Getting around the ClevelandMetroparks by bike or on foot will soon be easier for residents of Cleveland’s near westside neighborhoods.
The park system has been awarded an $8 million federal transportation grant to help connect isolated neighborhoods to existing trails, green spaces and public transportation.
The funding will be used to construct more than four miles of trails, including a bridge linking an existing trail to a Whiskey Island park on Lake Erie.
Other trails will connect residents with three Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority stations. Metroparks strategic planner Sara Byrnes-Maier says the new trails will help stabilize isolated neighborhoods.
“And it’s building off the Towpath Trail and the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail and so we really took a look at it as a way to improve access and transportation alternatives for this section of the city. And we’re got some really good elements it’s tying together, the riverfront and the lakefront and providing access to these areas.”
The project is expected to start next year and take about three years to complete.
The effort is part of a larger $16.5 million Metroparks initiative called “Reconnecting Cleveland,” which is building other bike and pedestrian trails across the park system to create better access.
