By Zaria Johnson, Ideastream Public Media
This story was originally published by Ideastream.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency is seeking feedback on a proposed plan to better connect the region’s county parks systems to each other, and to community resources.
The team at OHM Advisors, the firm selected by NOACA to lead the project, debuted plans for proposed trails in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties at a meeting Wednesday.
The goal, said OHM Principal and Landscape Architect Matt Hil, is to allow more people to navigate Northeast Ohio without relying on cars, which will help reduce the region’s carbon emissions.
“There are quite a few trails across Northeast Ohio, but they are very fragmented at this point in time.” Hil said. “The different municipalities, counties and park districts have been building them for several decades now, but people are just starting to understand the true value of trails and the quality of life that they raise because of their chances for recreation, improved health and exercise.”
Wednesday’s meeting kicked off the second round of public engagement, allowing attendees to ask questions, raise concerns about the proposed trails and help the team identify priorities.
“We’re trying to then figure out how do those longer segments get broken down into bite-sized pieces that that municipalities or other(s) can build?” Hil said. “Which segments are more desirable? So that we look at those first.”
Amherst resident Bev Muzilla said she attended the meeting on behalf of her homeowners association with concerns over how close a proposed trail was to their development.
“We just don’t want an increased presence of walkers right up in our neighborhood,” she said. “It’s a security thing. I like where I am. Nobody knows I’m there. I want to keep it that way.”
But Muzilla said she felt heard by Lorain County Metro Parks Director Jim Ziemnik.
“They have all these maps with the opportunity to talk to people and mark down on the map, you know, this is a good idea. This is not a good idea. And this is why,” she said. “And then … being able to talk to Jim really helps and makes me feel a lot better.”
Trails pose little safety risk to nearby properties, Hil said, and typically benefit the community.
We just wanted to remind people that … many studies have shown repeatedly that trails increase property value, they decrease crime,” he said. “They are an asset to each and every community that they’re built in.”
Bay Village resident Pat Nortz said he visits Northeast Ohio’s county parks to run or bike. During the meeting, he left a suggestion to repurpose an easement in Cuyahoga county near a Norfolk Southern railway.
“It’s a gravel access road for a utility easement right now, and it parallels the railway,” he said. “I suggested that they could get a paved trail through there and it would add about a-mile-and-a-half of all purpose trail for people that live around there.”
A proposed trail behind Fairview Hospital stood out to Nortz as particularly beneficial, he said.
“There was a trail near Fairview Hospital that they put in behind the … property to go down the hill toward a little net golf course,” Nortz said. “The road to get down there right now is pretty treacherous for pedestrians and cyclists, so that trail will be a huge improvement.”
NOACA’s focus on trail connectivity is sign of a larger focus of the benefits of micromobility, Cleveland resident Laura McShane said.
“Some of the things that are dawning on transportation planners are that transit and trails offer so many more what are called micromobility options,” she said, “where you can use your e-bike or, you know, a scooter or just walk, make that last mile connect and in a safe manner.”
OHM Advisors will continue accepting feedback online until December 20, before beginning development of its implementation plan.
“The point of this public process is to make sure that people are comfortable with what’s being proposed,” Hil said. “So, if someone does have concerns about it, that they can tell us either in person today or online on the map through that survey so that we can take that into consideration with the final recommendations.”
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Featured image: Cleveland Metroparks Planner Josiah Denson discusses trails proposed in Cuyahoga County with an attendee at public engagement meetings on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. (Photo Credit: Zaria Johnson/Ideastream Public Media)
