Eastside Greenway Project

Creating a Unified Network

The City of Cleveland Heights is participating in a project called the Eastside Greenway. The purpose is to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections of fourteen (14) municipalities in the eastern portion of Cuyahoga County and create a unified network that will serve as an alternative mode of transportation, connecting neighborhoods to employment centers, transit, and existing parks and other green spaces.

Communities

The fourteen communities include:

• Beachwood
• Bratenahl
• Cleveland Heights
• East Cleveland
• Eastern Portions of Cleveland
• Euclid
• Lyndhurst
• Mayfield Heights
• Mayfield Village
• Pepper Pike
• Richmond Heights
• Shaker Heights
• South Euclid
• University Heights

With such diversity in social, economic and racial makeup of the communities, the Eastside Greenway will meet different needs in different parts of the network.

Without Vehicles or Sidewalks

In areas like East Cleveland, where a significant percentage of households are without vehicles, the Eastside Greenway will provide safe commuting options where cyclists or pedestrians can more easily connect to public transit. In areas like Pepper Pike, where the majority of the city is without sidewalks, the Eastside Greenway will provide safe paths for recreation or commuting.

Scoping Study

A scoping study, led by LAND studio in partnership with Cleveland State University and the Cleveland Metroparks, was completed in 2013. The scoping study was conducted to determine the appropriate scale and reach of the Eastside Greenway through conversations with municipal governments and institutions. Through this study, it was determined that municipalities within the study area see the need and benefit of a comprehensive trail system and agree that a comprehensive plan is necessary to move forward. The desired outcome of this planning process will result in specific trail alignment recommendations throughout the study area, suggested trailhead locations, and a phasing strategy for moving forward into design and implementation.

Trails

Many individual trail segments are already in place within the study area, but lack critical connections. Connecting all the individual trails would close these gaps, provide safe alternative means of transportation, decrease the need for motorized travel, and improve the quality of life for a broad user base.

Desired Final Outcomes

Due to the large geography of the Eastside Greenway, this single project has the potential to promote regional collaboration on the residential, business, and governmental levels. Fourteen communities coming together to plan towards a common tangible goal, like this project, is an opportunity to promote a spirit of collaboration and begin to incrementally affect system change so that the new normal will be a collaborative, regional approach to planning. The ultimate desired outcomes of the project are to promote regionalism, increase transportation options, improve community health, reduce crime, increase property values, spur economic development, and protect waterways through on-site stormwater management practices.

Funding & Planning

This one-year, $150,000 planning project is being funded primarily by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) through a $118,000 federal grant in addition to $32,000 from:

• The Cleveland Foundation
• Cleveland Heights
• Cleveland Metroparks
• Euclid
• Mayfield Heights
• Mayfield Village
• Pepper Pike
• Shaker Heights

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health is conducting two Health Impact Analysis studies, one for the Eastside Greenway and a second for an area in Clevelnad known as Upper Chester. A $250,000 grant for these studies was awarded from The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the PEW Charitable Trusts, with funding from the St. Luke’s Foundation.”