Scranton Flats Towpath Trail & Urban Habitat Restoration

LOCATION: Cleveland, OH

Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects - Ohio Chapter

The Towpath Trail from Harvard Road to the Canal Basin in the Flats was constructed in multiple phases. Behnke Landscape Architecture served as a subconsultant to Michael Baker Corporation for the fourth and final phase, which included the design of Scranton Flats. Behnke led the grading, site layout, planting, and habitat restoration for this portion of the project.

The trail segment passes through an industrial area of the Flats along the Cuyahoga River, just south of Collision Bend. Funded primarily through a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant, the project remediated brownfield conditions, restored and monitors 3,000 feet of aquatic edge for fish habitat, through a variety of grading, green bulkhead modification, and native planting strategies, and established 4.75 acres of upland riparian buffer restoration with native plants. Additional improvements included stormwater treatment through rioretention cells, creation of an urban greenway for active and passive recreation, and new riverfront access for birding, fishing, and observation. The project also strengthened trail connections between downtown Cleveland and surrounding neighborhoods, supported progress toward Cuyahoga River Area of Concern delisting, and educated the public through interpretive displays highlighting local history, industry, and ecology.