Cleveland, OH - Cleveland Metroparks today announced the opening of Red Line Greenway, a nearly two-mile paved all purpose trail that links the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail to two RTA Red Line Rapid Transit stations, and provides a primary active transportation corridor from West 65th Street to downtown Cleveland.
The accessible trail provides a major east-west connector route as part of the overall Re-Connecting Cleveland project that is expected to be completed next month. The opening today was celebrated by a ribbon cutting at the trail access point on Columbus Road where Cleveland Metroparks was joined by project partners and supporters including LAND studio, The Trust for Public Land, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, and Cleveland Rotary Club.
“The Re-Connecting Cleveland project including the newly opened Red Line Greenway is doing just that — it is reconnecting our communities through a bold vision only possible through successful partnerships and community support,” said Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian M. Zimmerman. “This new accessible trail is breaking transportation barriers that have existed for decades and will improve access to and from downtown.”
The Red Line Greenway directly connects eight Cleveland neighborhoods along its route from the Michael Zone Recreation Center Park at West 53rd Street to the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Columbus Road. Additional access points include West 44th Street, West 41st Street, West 25th Street and Columbus Road near Abbey Avenue and Franklin Avenue. The trail utilizes former RTA right-of-way along the Red Line to provide a linear urban trail with additional pull-off areas for passive recreation, picnicking and more. The project also includes a robust planting of native trees as well as landscaping along the length of the trail.
“In addition to connecting to two Red Line Rapid Transit stations, the new urban trail is served by several bus routes to enhance commuter options across Cleveland and beyond connecting the community,” said RTA Acting CEO and Chief Operations Officer, Dr. Floun’say Caver. “I want to thank our project partners including the Rotary Club of Cleveland for helping to maintain this area over the past four decades. We could not be more pleased with the end result and its impacts on our city.”
The Re-Connecting Cleveland project also includes the upcoming Whiskey Island Connector Trail and Wendy Park Bridge, as well as the completed Canal Basin Park Connector and Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway Connector. Combined, the five projects link more than 66,000 Cleveland residents with over 4 miles of trails to centers of employment, schools, shopping districts and parks and provides a new link between Cleveland and its lakefront. Both the Whiskey Island Connector Trail and Wendy Park Bridge are expected to open in late June 2021.
Photos courtesy of Steve Bailey WTAM
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