CLEVELAND — With Cleveland City Council set to go on summer recess in less than a week, several pieces of legislation involving the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were approved during a special meeting on Wednesday.
Three passed ordinances deal directly with revitalizing Cleveland's southeast side. Council approved $5 million in ARPA funds for economic development assistance for commercial corridor projects in the Union-Miles, Mount Pleasant, and Lee-Harvard neighborhoods. An additional $5 million will allow for the preparation of several vacant sites for development. There will also be $5 million put forward for the establishment, implementation, and management of a revolving loan fund for a home repair and rehabilitation program.
An additional $10 million in ARPA money will be spent on several of Mayor Justin Bibb's "Waterfront Activation Fund" projects.
Council gave the green light to $3 million towards the proposed North Coast Connector land bridge. Specifically, the funds will be used for the design of the land bridge that would connect Cleveland City Hall and Mall C to the lakefront. A feasibility study will determine if the land bridge should span over the railroad tracks and the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, or require that the Shoreway be reconfigured into a boulevard configuration.
In addition, residents are being invited to take a survey to help decide what the downtown lakefront should look like and how people will get there. Click here for more.
Council also approved providing $500,000 towards the Euclid Creek Greenway, a multi-phased trail project to improve connections to the lakefront on the east side of Cleveland. City leaders say the greenway "will close a critical transportation gap in the region and connect the lower portion of Euclid Creek Reservation to its northern portion along the lakefront that includes Euclid Beach, Villa Angela and Wildwood parks in the city of Cleveland." Planner add that the Euclid Creek Greenway Phase 2 North will be an approximately two-mile trail "to provide residents a low stress route to the parks on Lake Erie."
On the west side, $5 million in ARPA money will support bulkhead and hillside stabilization and development of Irishtown Bend Park. The park will connect Ohio City on Cleveland's near west side to the Flats, downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie. Its riverfront trail will become the missing link that finally connects the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to Lake Erie.
Total project costs for hillside stabilization and site preparation are approximately $50 million and total project costs for park improvements are approximately $45 million.
Irishtown Bend Park is expected to be completed in 2026.
Finally, the council approved $1.5 million in ARPA funds will be spent for design work for the improvement of the East 55th Street pier as part of Cleveland Metroparks' Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Strategy (CHEER)
Some of the planned improvements to the pier include replacing the failing breakwall, providing more acres of parkland, and enhancing the fishing areas.
Cleveland City Council will hold its final meeting before summer recess on Monday, June 5.
