CLEVELAND — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has announced a $19.5 million investment that will fund improvements to the Slavic Village Downtown Connector and the Booth Avenue Extension of the Morgana Run Trail in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Metroparks investment, which is also a partnership with the city, “will fill key gaps in Cleveland’s trail network by connecting existing trails,” according to a press release from Brown’s office.

“We passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to invest in our communities, and update and repair the roads, trails, and transit Ohioans use every day,” Brown said in the release. “This investment is a continuation of our work and will make our roads and trails safer and improve our neighborhoods into the future.”

The release states there are many documented bicycle/pedestrian accidents in the corridors of both these projects and that this investment will reduce the risks of death and injury from these individuals and cars.

The Slavic Village Downtown Connector’s second phase of construction, which this is funding, will add 1.7 miles of trail, connecting downtown to Slavic Village, Cleveland Metroparks’ Washington Reservation and the Towpath Trail.

“The Morgana Run Trail, Booth Avenue Extension project will improve Booth Avenue and connect the southern terminus of the existing Morgana Run Trail at Jones Road with approximately 1 mile of new trail under the under the railway and along Booth Avenue to the Mill Creek Falls Area of Cleveland Metroparks’ Garfield Park Reservation and its Mill Creek Trail,” the release reads.

The investment was awarded by the Department of Transportation via the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Transportation Discretionary Grant Program, which saw more investment thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.