Councilman Foster and myself (with support from TASCforce, and staff) have been advocating for the conversion of Metro RTA's unused rail line that runs from Barlow Road south, all the way to Akron. Many of our neighboring communities including Stow and Silver Lake have also signed on to this project.

The rail-to-trail topic came up at a meeting last week between Norfolk Southern, Sen. Roegner, and Hudson. Norfolk indicated they needed to do more investigation, but they might be open to the idea of selling or leasing their unused rail line that runs from Barlow Road north to downtown Hudson.

We took the first steps (literally) in that investigation today by walking the unused line to inspect the condition and real estate. Foster was unavailable so he asked me to join Norfolk, the City Manager, the City Engineer, and Mayor Anzevino today.

We walked the entire line from Barlow to 303 and had a very productive discussion. (Kudos to the City Manager who walked the entire thing in a suit and dress shoes)

This is just the first step in a long process, but it is HUGE to even be having these conversations at all. It could potentially tie together several trails, and provide a path all the way to downtown Hudson.

Many (many, many) thanks to all who got us to this point