Eastside Greenway & Cuyahoga County Greenway Plans
Social equity is a vital consideration when planning urban areas. It is crucial to acknowledge that certain demographic and socio-economic groups are invariably affected by more restricted access to resources, including transportation infrastructure and mobility options. Rethinking Cuyahoga County's multimodal transportation infrastructure through a more equitable lens, these plans identify greenways and routes that will afford residents the access they need for a better quality of life.
Client
Cuyahoga County
Location
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Markets/Services
Active Transportation & Mobility, Civil Engineering, Community & Regional Plans, Greenways & Trails, Landscape Architecture, Mobility, Parks & Open Spaces, Urban Environments, Urban Planning
Teaming with Parsons Brinckerhoff and LAND studio, we completed a greenway plan for the east side of Cuyahoga County in 2015. Recognizing there were areas where County residents didn’t own cars, we knew there needed to be safe alternative routes that supported modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. The goal of the plan was to fill in the existing greenway and trail network’s missing links, and better connect residents to jobs, recreation, services, commercial centers, and natural resources.
SmithGroup led the public engagement process along with the evaluation of appropriate greenway connections, identifying specific trail alignment recommendations, suggesting new trailhead locations, and developing a phasing strategy for moving forward into design and implementation. The team utilized an extensive GIS analysis considering criteria such as connectivity, economic vitality, health and safety, and environmental assets. The robust public engagement process including three rounds of public workshops. Each round of workshops included three separate meetings in three different geographic locations in order to reach as broad a spectrum of the population as possible.
The Eastside Greenway Plan was so well-realized that the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, in conjunction with Cleveland Metroparks, decided to complete a plan for the entirety of the County. Our team identified a web of potential greenway routes across the county. These routes were then evaluated and prioritized using a GIS-based and community-input driven process to determine the benefits, challenges, and implementation opportunities for each option. The team used broad range of innovative public input tools, including ArcGIS-powered web maps and collaborative digital planning applications.
By improving and expanding transportation access to essential services such food, healthcare, and schools, these plans will help reconnect county areas and residents that have been disconnected for far too long.