Groundbreaking takes place today on a portion of the Towpath Trail in downtown Cleveland. Ohio Canal Corridor Executive Director Tim Donovan says it's the first publicly-funded portion of the trail. It's a $9 million project that's been in the works for about 20 years.
"For this particular project, we were awarded the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding just two years ago and that's really the main funding source for completing the project, so we moved pretty quickly once we got those funds," said Donovan.
The Great Lakes Restoration Fund awarded $3 million, a little less than that $3.175 awarded by the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund. Some parts of the funding are geared less toward completing the trail and more toward related projects, such as shoreline restoration and establishing a better fish habitat.
About 88 miles of the trial from Cleveland to New Philadelphia are complete.
