CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland has landed another federal grant to help remake its lakefront – in this case, to develop plans for a new transportation hub.
Congresswoman Shontel Brown’s office announced the $960,000 award on Tuesday. The planning grant will help pay for a more detailed study of a proposed transit station that would connect to a new land bridge between the center of Downtown and the waterfront.
The facility would replace Amtrak’s aging Cleveland station, just off the Shoreway, and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Rapid train station on East Ninth Street.
“The momentum behind our downtown lakefront continues to grow by the day. This is more than a transportation study,” Brown, a Cleveland-area Democrat, said in a news release. “It is about charting a more connected and innovative downtown Cleveland.”
The grant is from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BUILD program, which focuses on roads, transit, rail, maritime and aviation infrastructure. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced $488 million in BUILD awards, which are competitive and available to governments and public agencies.
The Department of Transportation stated that it received over 800 applications, totaling more than $10 billion in grant requests. Only one other Ohio project – for roadwork and two bridge replacements in Franklin County – received funding.
The BUILD grant is the third, and smallest, infusion of federal money to support Cleveland's lakefront plans.
In January, the city won a $69 million federal grant for the land bridge and a planned reconfiguration of the Shoreway between the Warehouse District and East 12th Street.
RELATED: Cleveland wins $69 million grant for lakefront land bridge, Shoreway changes
Last fall, Cleveland secured a $59 million grant for the land bridge.
RELATED: Cleveland wins $60 million federal grant to help connect Downtown to the lakefront
Construction on the road and bridge projects is scheduled to start in 2027.
The transit hub is a key component of the city’s vision to make it easier to access Lake Erie. However, the concept is much less fleshed out than the land bridge or the plan to transform the Shoreway into a narrower, slower boulevard with safe places to walk, cross, and bike.
The grant will help the city and its partners develop more detailed plans for the facility. The study will also examine a proposed access road dedicated to vehicles entering and exiting the Port of Cleveland, located near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.
The duration of the study is unclear.
Cleveland worked on the grant application with the North Coast Waterfront Development Corp., a nonprofit organization focused on the lakefront, and AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm with an office in Downtown Cleveland.
“Momentum is building around our lakefront, and this federal grant is the latest proof,” Mayor Justin Bibb said in a news release. “This investment brings us one step closer to connecting people to our greatest natural asset. We’re grateful to our federal partners for believing in our vision, and we will continue to drive this work to fruition.”
Scott Skinner, executive director of the North Coast nonprofit, also applauded the news.
“The North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation, in partnership with the city and AECOM, has enjoyed a lot of success in procuring federal grants in the last 12 months – and we’re excited to keep bringing federal money to Cleveland,” he said during a phone interview.
Last week, Skinner’s organization and the city started soliciting developers to tackle up to 50 acres of publicly owned lakefront land – including the site where Huntington Bank Field now stands.
Responses from developers are due in September.
RELATED: Cleveland seeks developers for 50-acre lakefront site, including Browns stadium
Cleveland’s lakefront master plan calls for roughly $460 million in infrastructure and transportation work. In addition to the federal grants, the city has secured $20 million from the Ohio General Assembly and expects to seek a low-interest, federal loan.
City officials also plan to tap new property-tax revenues from Downtown growth to help pay for public infrastructure projects.
