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Hosted by Cleveland Waterfront Coalition (CWC), this public meeting and discussion will center on a presentation by City Planning Director Robert Brown on Cleveland waterfront planning. 

More information here, or contact John Veres at veres9@sbcglobal.net or 216-281-8703.

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Updates on planning to conserve a former Contained Disposal Facility on Cleveland Lakefront into an 88-acre coastal wildlife area at Dike 14, for the benefit of wildlife and people.

European countries excel at bicycling thanks to strong policies, lots of investment, and a real commitment to replace cars with bikes, John Pucher and Ralph Bueler of Rutgers University explain in a new report.

Berlin alone has built up a huge bike network with hundreds of miles of bike lanes, paths and even shortcuts tailored exclusively to cyclists.

How does Cleveland compare to the world’s best bicycling cities?

Find out here.

European countries excel at bicycling thanks to strong policies, lots of investment, and a real commitment to replace cars with bikes, John Pucher and Ralph Bueler of Rutgers University report.

Berlin alone has built up its bike network to include 534 miles of completely separate bike paths, 37 miles of bike lanes on streets, 31 miles of bike lanes on sidewalks, and 62 miles of pedestrian/bike paths.

How does Cleveland compare to the world’s best bicycling cities?

The city’s 2010 Active Transportation Plan, which states the case for Cleveland to be in the next round of federal funding for non-motorized transportation projects, is aiming for a 180-mile bike network, including 30 miles of off-road paths and seven miles of bike lanes that exist today (the longest of which is the 3.5 mile bike lane on Euclid Avenue). The biggest chunk of the Cleveland bikeway is a proposed 99 miles of on-road bike routes, bike lanes and Sharrows, which are used to show motorists that cyclists may “take the lane” and it helps show cyclists good lane positioning, especially where lanes are too narrow to share safely.

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Join us Thurs. April 3, 5:30PM - 7:30PM, Webtego for Midtown Brews with Meet The Bloggers. Live Broadcast and Chat [[http://www.mogulus.com/midtownbrews]]

"MIGHTY BLUE: The Great Lakes Basin Water Compact" with Marnie Urso, Great Lakes Restoration & Policy, Grassroots Coordinator, Audubon Ohio...

View the movie, "MIGHTY BLUE" with Marnie and Illustrator, Ralph Solonitz, who makes the preservation case from a different perspective...

What is the role of the Great Lakes in the 21st Century? Should the Great Lakes be diverted to arid areas of the southwest U.S. or restored? Learn about efforts to restore and protect the world's largest body of fresh water for future generations...

"Led by Rep. Matthew Dolan, last week the Ohio House of Representatives voted 88-3 in favor of responsible and balanced water protection by approving House Bill 416, legislation to ratify the Great Lakes Basin Water Resources Compact without amendment...

Now the bad news. In the Ohio Senate, a bare majority of 17 Senators has co-sponsored Senate Bill 291, legislation to ratify a version of the Compact containing amendments that they have drafted and that have not been reviewed or approved in any other state. Audubon Ohio has dubbed the Senate Bill the "Great Lakes NONpact" because it represents a blatant attempt, under the guise of supposedly non-controversial amendments, to unwind the careful eight-state negotiations that lead to the final draft of the Compact and to torpedo the entire Compact process"...more at http://oh.audubon.org. Contact your Senator and vote for the economic health and survival of future generations.

Contributor:
Marnie Urso, Grassroots Coordinator, Audubon Ohio

Date:
Thursday, April 3, 2008 (the first Thursday of every month)

Time:
5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.

One of the most important decisions about the future of Cleveland's lakefront could take place in the coming weeks, as the City of Cleveland decides whether to close the 450-acre Burke Lakefront Airport or plan to improve it. Previous lakefront planning by the city had left the fate of the airport undecided. Mayor Frank Jackson now wants to settle the issue.

At an informational meeting today, airport consultants described a number of studies scheduled to be completed by October: a market assessment of the development potential of land around the airport, an assessment of Burke's role as a reliever airport in the regional air system, and an airport master plan update that will result in a 20-year development plan for airport improvements (assuming Burke continues as an airport).

Some key questions: Could Burke's flights be reallocated to other airports in the region? Is Burke playing its intended role as an amenity to promote the downtown corporate office market? Is it possible to develop other uses on Burke's land (much of which is a landfill)? Will aviation consultants be able to help the city create a vision for a 21st century lakefront?

Go here to see a special website on the Burke master plan. For more on possible options for Burke, see this 2002 study done for EcoCity Cleveland. 

Public workshop on the future of Burke Lakefront Airport to obtain input on the airport's forecasting and facility needs assessment.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District will conduct a public information meeting to discuss the status and planning to date of the Cleveland Harbor Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP); the purpose of the DMMP is to provide for twenty years of dredged material management at Cleveland Harbor, Ohio. Question and answer period to follow.

Cleveland Harbor Dredged Material Management Plan (Environmental Impact Statement)

Annually, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges on average 330,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Cuyahoga River and for the last decade deposits that material in the Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) 10B adjacent to Burke Lakefront Airport. If 330,000 cubic yards is difficult to conceptualize, think of it equivalent to the football field of Cleveland Brown’s Stadium stacked to the lip of the stadium edge with sediment.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority are taking two very different approaches to its studies and assessments of Whiskey Island and the lakefront, Friends of Whiskey Island’s Ed Hauser writes.

Hauser is requesting that the county not drop its $200,000 study to determine if the Port needs to expand. The study potentially would strike a balance between the preservation of an increasingly popular natural shoreline and park on Cleveland’s lakefront at the mouth of the Cuyahoga and the right size of maritime operations.

What should the future of the lakefront and Whiskey Island look like?