The Green Ribbon Coalition is one of the community stakeholder organizations for the proposed Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Study (CHEERS). The study is seeking to address current and future challenges regarding the resiliency of the Lake Erie shoreline, as well as that of adjacent neighborhoods and Northeast Ohio. The eastern embayment, north of the Interstate 90 “Shoreway,” lacks in-water and nearshore habitat and as a result, lacks natural means of shoreline protection. Cleveland Metroparks, in partnership with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management, are driving this consultant-led, comprehensive planning effort.
Underway since mid-2020, the study is evaluating existing conditions in the project area, conducting significant community engagement, and will ultimately complete a preliminary design. Among other things, this study is evaluating the potential for the beneficial re-use of local dredge materials to create natural habitats such as emergent wetlands, shrub habitat, and coastal mudflats along the shoreline to create additional habitat for bird, fish, and other species, and to protect the shoreline and nearby critical infrastructure from waves and water. As the Green Ribbon Coalition understands, this study and the preliminary design will be completed by early next year. Below are links to the Cleveland Metroparks CHEERS web page, which provides preliminary results, as well as a photo gallery on Cleveland.com.
Another proposed idea from the Green Ribbon Coalition is for the “reunification” of North Gordon Park with South Gordon Park by the relocation of I-90/Shoreway to the south. The north and south park areas are an unfortunate result of the 1950s construction of the Shoreway through the glorious and once singular Gordon Park. The “reunification” proposal details are available here.
