COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohio House legislators exclusively told News 5 Tuesday that the long-awaited pedestrian land bridge connecting downtown Cleveland to Lake Erie will receive $20 million from the planned capital budget’s one-time allocation.
The one-time monies in House Bill 2 would provide millions for the Cleveland Municipal Land Bridge project, allowing communities better access to the state’s biggest asset, Lake Erie.
In downtown, the Shoreway Highway, railroads, and bluffs divide the city from the water.
“If we can get to Lake Erie, the Browns Stadium, or any of the other attractions in the area, that’s great,” Clevelander Connor Aten said.
He and his friend Nathan Wilkie believe a land bridge could provide a new method to travel to games.
“I’m always excited to go to a Browns game,” Wilkie remarked. “Its a Browns town.”
The pedestrian bridge has been suggested for several years. It would enable villagers to travel securely across and above the rail tracks.
State senators said Tuesday that they will provide $20 million in financing to build the route. The funds come from a one-time allocation in the capital budget bill. It came from the state’s General Revenue Fund, which had a surplus from previous years.
This comes out of the $42 million that Cuyahoga County receives from the first aspect of the budget.
Grace Gallucci of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency is happy.
“It’s really to benefit people to improve their overall quality of life, but it will have definitely an impact on tourism,” he said.
However, Wilkie does not intend to use it.
“It’s way more convenient to Uber or drive,” he went on to say.
Although Aten believes it is beneficial, he dislikes the fact that it is funded by taxpayers.
“I’d rather see $20 million going to cleaning up the city or fixing the many potholes we see in the wintertime,” he said.
There is a lot more to be done. The land bridge is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Gallucci stated that this was only the first step.
“Any funds that are being recognized for the project and set aside for the project is fantastic news,” she went on to say.
She and City of Cleveland spokesperson Tyler Sinclair are excited to move forward.
We are grateful for the discussions with House lawmakers, and we truly appreciate the support for the North Coast Connector, which highlights the project’s significance as a catalyst for making the lakefront accessible to everyone, opening it up for development, and unleashing billions of dollars in economic activity,” Sinclair said. “We are hopeful this passes the House as the first step in the process.”
This will also benefit the Browns, who have been pushing for the bridge and other improvements for years. The lease on the former FirstEnergy Stadium is slated to expire in 2028.
The Ohio Department of Transportation, the City of Cleveland, and Haslam Sports Group, the Browns’ owners, have contributed $5 million to a study of downtown revitalization plans, kicking off planning and engineering.
“A significant stadium renovation at our current site is the premise of the study as well as a focus on how to provide accessibility to the lakefront, drive density and create 365-destination major development opportunities that would include new public parks, retail, office, experiential and residential spaces,” the group said in 2022. “The vision, as many in our community have already seen, is centered on an extensive land bridge.”
The one-time funds are anticipated to get through the House on Wednesday. It would then go to the Senate.
“As long as it doesn’t just create a new bottleneck or junction where everyone’s just trying to funnel through to get to the bridge, that’s kind of a good idea,” Mr. Aten said.
The remainder of the capital budget will be published at a later date; only a portion of it was released. News 5 will continue to track and analyze H.B. 2.
This is a developing story, which will be updated.
Watch our coverage on a prior project announcement, which failed last April:
