CLEVELAND — Cleveland Metroparks broke ground Wednesday on a new addition to their Euclid Creek Reservation site.

Brian Zimmerman, CEO of Cleveland Metroparks, provided some details about the new project.

What You Need To Know

  • Cleveland Metroparks broke ground on a new trail at their Euclid Creek Reservation

  • This will connect the east side to Lake Erie 

  • This is the first phase of the project, the other phases will be finished over the next three to five years 

“Euclid Creek Reservation is one of the original nine reservations of the now more than 24,400 acres and what we did here today was we broke ground on phase one of the Euclid trail greenway connector, which will eventually connect this reservation, again one of the original nine, all the way to Lake Erie,” he said. 

This is just the first phase of the trail that will connect Euclid to Lake Erie. Zimmerman said the other phases will be completed over the next three to five years. 

“So each one of them has different federal funding, depending on how the federal programs are working, but each one will have components working forward in the future to connect to Lake Erie,” he said.

Zimmerman emphasized the importance of connectivity, saying the goal of the trail is to make the lake more accessible to people on the east side.

“This opportunity here on the east side, on the fashionable east side, is really about now connecting all the way to the lakefront. And so we continue to find ways in communities to build up access and equitable access all the way to our lakefront,” he said. 

The Cleveland Metroparks support over 19 million visitors per year.

“I don’t think there’s a story that goes by that you don’t hear about a connection to the park. A family reunion, a wedding, a proposal," said Zimmerman. "Any of those things, it’s really a part of people’s lives and I think, you know, it’s leaving a legacy behind. Something that will withstand the test of time."