There may be fewer cars on the road in Cuyahoga County if a current planning effort bears fruit. The Cuyahoga Greenways project is under way to develop and link walkways and bikeways in all 59 municipalities. The group is holding public meetings this week.
There are lots of trails in the Cleveland area but the county planning office, Cleveland MetroParks, the Northeast Ohio Area-wide Coordinating Agency, cities, and dozens of other groups are thinking big, in hopes of building a master plan that will develop and link all those non-motorized corridors.
Landscape architect Neil Billetdeaux of Smith Group JJR says they want to develop greenways that are used for recreational purposes but also the increasingly popular urban trails.
“The urban trails are going to be focusing more on getting people to destinations, getting people to transit, getting people to schools and where they need to get and really kind of integrating neighborhoods and getting them to the MetroParks as well.”
That include modifying streets in ways meant to calm traffic or reduce 5 lanes down to 3 lanes. He points to the proposed Midway Project that would dedicate the two middle lanes on Superior Avenue downtown for bicycle traffic.
The group tried a similar program called the Eastside Greenway meant to connect existing trails to other streets and corridors.
Sarah Meyer of Cleveland MetroParks says their 100-year-old Emerald Necklace trail system can act like a main trunk line or spine that connects to little trails around the county.
Billetdeaux says when greenways and urban trails are built they are popular right away but then they have an economic boost to the neighborhood.
“You start to see impacts on property values, you see impacts on economic redevelopment and then you even see impacts on fewer cars on the road and lower vehicle miles travelled. “
And, he says, less air pollution.
The greenway partners hope to have a master plan of trails this winter and a final report next summer.