CLEVELAND — Cleveland Metroparks and community partners have opened the Mandel Community Trail, a new 2.7-mile lighted off-road paved trail connecting to the existing portion of the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway from East 55th Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The trail provides safe access to the lakefront on foot or by bicycle to the Saint Clair Superior and Glenville neighborhoods and downtown Cleveland.
"This today helps capture a tremendous link that was missing, creating a great place to walk, hike, bike, and when partners work together, we create progress," said Brian Zimmerman, CEO of Cleveland Metroparks at the opening.
The project is a partnership between Cuyahoga County, the city of Cleveland and Cleveland Metroparks. The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation provided a $5 million gift to Cleveland Metroparks for the trail.
The trail is already drawing more visitors to the lakefront.
"Oh, it's been great. It makes it a lot more accessible. I've been running down here for probably about 20 years, and the brand-new trail, it's great. I've seen a lot more people down here since they built it, so I think it's wonderful," said Greg Babcock, who stopped for a moment to talk during his run on the trail.
Community partners hope the trail gets more people out and about engaging with the lake and exploring more neighborhoods.
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