ClevelandBikes worked with Cuyahoga County commissioner's office and the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative to secure funding for the last 6 miles of the Towpath Trail into downtown Cleveland. Congressional and senatorial staffers from Washington descend on Cleveland for a multi-modal tour of the Cuyahoga Valley by rail, trail, trolley, and boat.

Friday, June 3rd at 8:30am I met with a group from the County Commissioner's office, members of the city of Cleveland’s planning department, Paul Alsenas director of the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative, and a slew of congressional and senatorial staffers. We met for coffee and muffins at the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission in downtown Cleveland before boarding Lolly the Trolley for and 8 hour marathon tour of the valley.

The purpose of the meeting was to show the staffers the valley all the way from downtown Cleveland to Peninsula to highlight the beauty of the park as it stands currently and help staffers envision the potential of the final leg into downtown. In order for the project to come to fruition, local agencies must secure a boatload of money from the Federal government. We’re hoping that the tour and our vision help the staffers bring back the good news to Washington.

The last stretch of the valley to be completed as a park is currently an unearthly industrial landscape. Massive ore barges float silently down the river day and night. The monsterous smoke stacks at the steel mill belch flames into the sky. The slag heaps towering above the river are specked with hoards of seagulls. At first glance, this would seem like the most unlikely place for a park and path.

Paul Alsenas painted a wonderful picture for what could be the future of this industrial stretch of the valley. We passed by the part of the river that caught fire decades ago which still was pretty shabby looking. He spoke positively of how that spot was the reason we now have the Clean Water Act and how without that incident, it may have been years before we had seen any progress in dealing with pollution in our waterways. He explained that years ago, pollution was widely considered to be a symptom of productivity and a sign of prosperity but now we have the opportunity to redevelop the region with green building and green chemistry principles in mind. This could give the region a boost into the booming green building industry and kick start safer chemistry for the world.

We ate a quick lunch at the Canalway Center where I gave my spiel about the potential impact of the Towpath Trail on the region and the importance of getting it done soon. When I spoke to the group I tried to stress that once the Towpath reaches downtown, Cleveland will become a destination for droves of riders. People will be riding in from Akron and beyond to enjoy riding the path then spending their day in downtown Cleveland eating ice cream and having fun! Cleveland will have a park system and trail that will connect us to one of the most popular parks in the country. Thousands of young people in Cleveland will have something beautiful, healthy, and free to enjoy. Not only would this be an economic boost, it will be an ego boost the region needs.

After my talk about the Towpath, I spoke of the benefit a first class mountain bike trail could bring to the Cuyahoga Valley. Having 4 or 5 miles of top notch single track would be another incentive for young, fit and crazy mountain bikers to stick around the region. Northeast Ohio is desperately in need of more facilities for mountain biking and it’s common for local eco-jocks to consider moving to regions where there’s more facilities in place. The valley is an obvious choice for single trackers from Akron to greater Cleveland and I hope the people from the park approach this issue with new energy.

I followed up the meeting with letters to Senator Voinovich, Senator DeWine, and Congressman LaTourette. The letters asked them to consider the benefits of the project and urged them to support funding for the project through Federal Transportation Reauthorization legislation. I guess now we wait and see. Keep your fingers crossed!

-Brendan McNamara

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