{"id":183806,"date":"2026-05-04T21:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/183806\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:42:13","slug":"dirt-flies-as-leaders-mark-start-of-construction-on-new-trail-along-lake-erie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/183806\/","title":{"rendered":"Dirt flies as leaders mark start of construction on new trail along Lake Erie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CLEVELAND \u2014 If you love spending time along Lake Erie, by next summer, the plan is for you to have access to a brand-new trail on the east side, built on private land that\u2019s being opened to the public.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s called the Euclid Beach Connector Project, an addition to the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway, which will be located between E. 151st Street and the Cleveland Metroparks Euclid Beach in Cleveland\u2019s Collinwood neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt about it\u2014Lake Erie\u2019s an economic and recreational anchor in Northeast Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can\u2019t find a better place than having serenity like this,\u201d said Michael Taylor Fullilove, who lives in Cleveland.<\/p>\n<p>Angel Hill and her child, Legend, are regulars at Euclid Beach Park. She said it\u2019s a good place to reset your mind and get exercise.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The peace of the water and this area usually stays pretty clean, and I walk every day,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n<p>By the summer of 2027, Hill and everyone else will be able to walk, roll, and stroll on a new 0.6-mile trail in an area previously off-limits because it\u2019s privately owned.<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777930933_676_.jpeg\" alt=\"Euclid Beach Connector\"  width=\"1170\" height=\"1298\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Cuyahoga County &amp; SmithGroup<\/p>\n<p>        Renderings of Euclid Beach Connector project.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is about you,\u201d said Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, during a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday. \u201cThis is about you enjoying a better waterfront future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plan has been years in the making.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It will be a place where you\u2019ll have scenic overlooks, enhanced green spaces with native plants\u2026 safe, accessible paddle craft entry points,\u201d Ronayne said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the $13 million project, funded through a mix of federal, state, and local dollars, will dramatically improve lakefront access and shoreline protection.<\/p>\n<p>At the ceremony, Congresswoman Shontel Brown presented an $850,000 check she secured through Community Project Funding at the federal level. <\/p>\n<p>Funding also came from the National Park Service Land and Conservation Fund, Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Nature Works Program, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Emergency Erosion Assistance Grant, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio Lake Erie Commission Lake Erie Coastal Resilience Grant, City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Take a quick moment of silence and just listen to the sounds around you,\u201d Ronayne said to the crowd. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful sound. Sound of waves on our shores. The sounds of birds in the air\u2026 sound of children over there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ronayne stressed the partnerships it took to bring the project to life, which also included negotiating easements with homeowners to build a public trail.<\/p>\n<p>In exchange, tax dollars will pay for bluff protection and other infrastructure to combat severe erosion.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And we aim to keep the shoreline healthy and work in ways that it doesn\u2019t erode under your properties but also creates environmental benefits,\u201d Ronayne said, calling it a win for the public and the environment.<\/p>\n<p>Yvonne Baker, who lives in Euclid, is excited about the possibilities. She\u2019s a regular walker, along with her dog named Mason.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tax dollars at work. New jobs. Give old people something to do- I love it,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n<p>Hill, too, is excited to have the east side spotlighted for investment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019ve been looking forward to something like that for years \u2013 ever since I was a little person. And I\u2019m 57,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI mean, we used to go over to the west side because they had the better parks. So, it would be great to have something here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s the end goal, leaders said they have in mind\u2014to create easier access to the lake on this side of town, which Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said is important.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thirteen years ago, when the Metroparks took over Edgewater we saw what was possible in our city when you prioritize having lakefront access for all of our residents,\u201d Bibb said. \u201cThis announcement is about connecting the lakefront to the east side of Cleveland, because for far too long it\u2019s been redlined away from lakefront access.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mayor went on to say, \u201cWe believe in having a lakefront for all of Cleveland\u2019s people.<\/p>\n<p>Hill said she\u2019ll be watching the progress closely.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh, that\u2019s going to be beautiful,\u201d Hill said. \u201cA lot of people are going to love it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Damon Maloney is a Cuyahoga County and We Follow Through anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dmaloneytv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">@DMaloneyTV<\/a>, on Facebook <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DamonMaloneyTV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DamonMaloneyTV<\/a> or email him at <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news5cleveland.com\/news\/local-news\/oh-cuyahoga\/mailto: Damon.Maloney@wews.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Damon.Maloney@wews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 If you love spending time along Lake Erie, by next summer, the plan is for you&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[10269,76,2101,136,138,137,81950,81951,13980,260,81952,81953,81954],"class_list":["post-183806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-chris-ronayne","tag-cleveland","tag-cuyahoga-county","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-euclid-beach","tag-euclid-beach-connector","tag-exercise","tag-lake-erie","tag-mayor-justin-bibb","tag-shontel-brown","tag-shoreline-erosion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}