Port Authority Presents its Relocation Plan to NOACA Governing Board on Friday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m.

By moving Cleveland’s port to a site east of Burke Lakefront Airport, the city would benefit from expanded maritime capacity, a dynamic and accessible waterfront, and the potential redevelopment of more than 500 acres of underutilized inner-city land. So says the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority Board of Directors, who partnered with city and county officials in the past year to conduct a review of feasible sites to move the port, currently located on valuable waterfront land northwest of Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Representatives from the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority will present its proposed 200-acre relocation site at the February 8 meeting of the Governing Board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA).

“Our lakefront is a valuable asset for Northeast Ohio, so we are excited to hear about the Port Authority’s plans,” says Howard R. Maier, NOACA executive director. “A more robust port could mean more jobs for the region, while the new site has the potential to give nearby neighborhoods better access to the lake and recreational facilities.”

In addition to hearing the Port Authority presentation, the NOACA Governing Board will consider adding a project to repair the structural steel on the Innerbelt Bridge in Cleveland to the Transportation Improvement Program. This project is estimated to cost $10 million. The Governing Board will also consider authorizing the NOACA staff to issue a request for proposals for ozone forecasting services from May through September and year-round fine particle forecasting services for NOACA’s air quality programs. NOACA’s Ozone Action Day Program and Fine Particle Pollution Program both rely on emissions and meteorological data customized to Northeast Ohio, with its unusual Great Lakes weather patterns.

For more information, call Gayle L. Godek, Communications Specialist, at 216-241-2414, ext. 283; or Steve Jones, Associate Director of Divisional Services, at ext. 352.