Phases of Change: The Freedom Trail By Megan Delong
N
ick Moskos describes trails as “hallways with moments of tastiness.” Moskos is the Chief of Planning and Development for Summit Metro Parks (SMP). On the Freedom Trail, these tasty moments include wildlife, cyclists and the next phase of the Towpath Connection project. Spanning from the Summit County Line to Portage County, the Freedom Trail offers a diagonal route that, when connected to the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail, would allow visitors over a hundred miles of car-free transportation. Being in the business of creating “super highways for bikes,” Summit Metro Parks
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wants to offer multiple public input opportunities throughout 2021 to help with the design of Phase Four of the construction. Construction on the Freedom Trail has been in progress for over a decade and will continue over the next few years. Although funding and land ownership issues have caused the shifted timeline for the Freedom Trail, SMP has completed phases one and two and are currently working on Phase three. While walking along the trail, visitors have the unique experience of hearing trains in the distance, a chance to stop and view the scenery or to appreciate the trail being separated from traffic. Being mixed
use, the Freedom Trail can mean different things for different visitors: cyclists might enjoy the smooth pavement while residents in the neighborhood might value being able to take a short walk during their lunch break. Moskos and Lindsay Smith, the Marketing and Public Relations Manager for SMP, both believe that the Freedom Trail is something extraordinary. Moskos says that the trail is ultimately going to be a hallway through downtown Akron. “There are so many opportunities to celebrate history and so many opportunities to take people to places they’ve never been in Akron,” says Moskos. Lindsay loves “that you can be in a rather populated area and yet when you’re on the trail, you feel like
May 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #5
you’re kind of in the middle of nature for a lot of it.” To prepare for the fourth and final phase, a feasibility study was conducted in 2015 to see if the Freedom Trail could even be connected to the Towpath. The Towpath and Freedom Trail connection that is planned for the final phase presented unique challenges like the rugged terrain of the Valley, the rail corridor and the neighboring community that the organization had to plan around. Along with making sure the trail was able to be continued through the neighborhood grid system, Summit Metro Parks focused on being American Disability Act (ADA) thedevilstrip.com