The More For Lakeshore!

Lake Erie is one of the County’s biggest assets and the cities of Willowick, Willoughby, and Eastlake are putting a plan in motion to make sure the community has full advantage of the lakefront. With assistance from NOACA, Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, a planning study was implemented for their TLCI Grant, Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative. According to the public study, NOACA’s mission is to “support economic development through place-based transportation and land use recommendations, and connect these proposals with existing assets and investments.” A TAC Committee, Technical Advisory Committee, was put in place to aid in the research and creation of the report and consisted of city officials, business leaders, Lake County & Port Staff, Laketran officials, and NOACA staff. Public engagement through voting was also included from in-person events before The Pandemic and Zoom meetings after.

The TLCI’s “The More for Lakeshore!” report lays out a detailed phase and funding strategy to set the city of Willowick up for both short and long-term success. The plan consists of two key components: Downtown Redevelopment and improvement to the Lakeshore Blvd. Corridor. These are broken up into two different phases that span across a short, medium, and long-term timeline. In a phone call with Mayor Regovich, he expressed his excitement over the work he, the other mayors, and Laketran have put in. He looks forward to giving the community better access to the lake with more walkable areas for a true “downtown feel.” Most importantly for the community, the plan outlines utilizing and growing the public green space at the Lakefront and having paved trails down to the waterline that are ADA accessible. Though the pandemic slowed this project down, planning has not stopped and it is likely Willowick residents will see some of this development in the near future!

Read the full TLCI report: www.noaca.org