NOACA Allocates Funds For City's First Midway Bike Lanes

CLEVELAND, OH -- Bicycle advocacy groups rejoiced with the announcement Dec. 8 that the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency will allocate $14.4 million in federal transportation funds to build the city's first major protected bike lanes, according to cleveland.com. The two bicycle lanes will run down Superior Avenue and Lorain Avenue. These so-called "bicycle highways" will bisect some of the city's wider streets that used to have streetcar clattering down them.

The first Midway Cycle Track will run 2.5 miles on Superior Avenue from Public Square to E. 55th Street. NOACA allocated $8.3 million for this initial bike lane project. It's earmarked to be completed by 2020.

Another $6.1 million is allocated for the Lorain Avenue Cycle Track. This project will create a bike lane on the north side of Lorain Avenue from W. 20th Street to W. 45th Street, and then on the south side of the street from W. 45th Street to W. 65th Street.

In the future, NOACA and the City of Cleveland plan to do the same throughout the city wherever possible. Potential corridors that could accommodate a Midway Cycle Track are: Rocky River Drive, St. Clair Avenue, Chester Avenue, Payne Avenue, E. 55th (from the lake to Broadway), Pearl Road (south of the Zoo) and Fulton Road.

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