At the Lander and Fairmount circle, a ten-foot strip of new asphalt heads north through the wide grass median of Gates Mills Boulevard. It ends just before Cedar Road. The pavement is finished, but the plantings and retaining walls are not. From now through spring 2027, crews will be working along a path that people can already see and partly use.
That unfinished stretch completes a project the city has discussed for more than a decade, on land that has been planned for many other uses. Two new walkways on Brainard Road and Fairmount Boulevard are also under construction this fall. Taken together, the work shows Pepper Pike building a walkable network with the boulevard median at its center.
A 130-foot strip with a long list of earlier plans
The Gates Mills Boulevard median is about 130 feet wide. That width comes from its history. At the 2024 groundbreaking, Mayor Richard Bain described its past uses to cleveland.com. It started as farmland. It was then set aside as a right-of-way for a Van Sweringen light-rail line that was never built. Later it became the village dump. In the 1970s there was a proposal to build homes on it.
The same report says a trail may first have come up at a city infrastructure meeting in 2013, though the mayor was not certain that was the first time. Ground was broken in September 2024. Because the strip was set aside a century ago for a transit line, it is wide enough today for a path, mature trees, and a meadow, all well away from traffic.
What Phase 1 put in the median
Phase 1 opened on June 20, 2025. It runs about 1.5 miles from the Shaker Boulevard circle to Lander Road and the Ursuline College campus. According to the city's engineering consultant, the 2024 project description presented it as a link to the Shaker Median Trail, other trails, and Pepper Pike Park. The city's 2024 fact sheet said the plan included no parking lots, structures, or lights. It said occasional benches and trash receptacles might be added.
Planting is the largest part of the project. At the opening, cleveland.com reported nearly 200 new trees, 1,600 native perennials, and 868 native shrubs. The mayor said 7,600 square yards of pollinator meadow and 2,300 spring bulbs were still to be planted. That count compares to a July 2024 city presentation. Its lower-cost option called for 23 new trees, and its more ambitious option called for 183. The finished park went with the larger plan. The presentation also showed gateways at Brainard Circle and Kersdale, pull-off areas, sandstone boulders, and stacked-stone seat walls.
The landscape architect was MKSK. Phase 1 cost about $1.6 million. Funding included a $500,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and $250,000 in federal ARPA money allocated through Cuyahoga County. A separate $800,000 county grant helped pay to resurface Gates Mills Boulevard.
Phase 2 is paved, and the finishing work is just starting
Phase 2 continues the path north from the Lander/Fairmount circle toward Cedar Road. In March, cleveland.com's Chagrin Solon Sun described it as nearly a mile of 10-foot asphalt. It was estimated at about $1 million, again with a $500,000 ODNR grant.
The route has a few details worth knowing before you walk it:
- It goes around the Fairmount/Lander circle, not through it. The city engineer said the path would curve around the circle.
- It stops short of Cedar Road, with a small crossing island at the end.
- It ends at the city line. Mayfield Heights had not reconsidered its earlier decision against a trail in its section, so the path stops at the border instead of continuing north.
- The design keeps nearly all existing trees. Excavated soil is being reused to build small mounds, and a sparsely treed section may become a small arboretum.
The city's two most recent newsletters cover the current status. The September Pepper Pike Post said the trail portion was complete, landscaping and retaining walls would start soon, and the whole phase should be finished in spring 2027. The October Pepper Pike Post said the Phase II contract had been awarded and work would run from mid-October through spring 2027. Expect crews in the median through the winter. MKSK, which designed Phase 1, was hired in February to design the Phase 2 landscaping, so the northern section should look like the southern one.
The walkways being built to meet it
The boulevard path is one part of a larger network. A city engineer's update dated July 13, 2026, listed trails along Brainard, Fairmount, and Lander as "in the design & bid process for 2026 Construction." It also called for a separate contract to fix crossings with curb ramps, crosswalks, and signal upgrades.
On July 22, council approved contracts for the trail extensions. According to a summary of that meeting, the low bid came in about $230,000 under the estimate, and that bidder could handle both packages.
The October newsletter reported three segments under way:
| Walkway | Status in the October 2026 newsletter |
|---|---|
| Brainard Road, Shaker to Fairmount | Installation progressing; the September newsletter targets completion by winter 2026 |
| Fairmount Boulevard, Brainard to Butternut | Installation progressing |
| Brainard Road, Cedar to North Woodland/Fairmount | Construction underway |
The July plans also cover the corner of Cedar and Lander. They show a proposed trail on the south side of Cedar and the west side of Lander, a new crosswalk across the southern leg of Lander, and new ADA curb ramps. Pedestrian push buttons and signal heads would be installed at the same time as the crosswalk. The signal upgrades will likely need to be coordinated with Mayfield Heights.
Getting around the work this month
The new paths are being built during a busy month of road repairs. The October newsletter listed these projects:
- Cedar Road. Milling and resurfacing of marked areas, more than 7,500 square yards, was scheduled to start Saturday, October 3. Crews were to begin on the eastbound lanes and pave toward Lander Road, weather permitting. More milling and repairs between Lander and SOM Center Road were set for the week of October 5. The road stays open, with traffic shifted to the north side.
- Pinetree Road. Milling has begun, and the road is closed to through traffic at SOM Center Road.
- Trillium Trail. Milling began September 30, with minor repairs the week of October 5 and the final surface to follow.
Schedules like these change with the weather. The city's Construction Updates & Road Closures page is the place to check before you head out.
Dates on the calendar
In September, Mayor Bain invited riders of all ages to Bike with the Mayor on October 4. The ride was set to leave the City Hall parking lot and follow the Gates Mills Boulevard trails before the Fall Harvest Festival. The same message reminded trail users that dog waste stations are placed throughout the trail system.
Coming up:
- October 28: Finance Committee at 6:00 p.m., followed by City Council at 6:30 p.m.
- October 31: Halloween trick-or-treat, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- November 26 and 27: City offices closed for Thanksgiving. Thursday rubbish collection moves to Wednesday, and there are no Friday special pickups.
When the Phase 2 landscaping is finished next spring, the boulevard path will run about two and a half continuous miles, from the Shaker Boulevard circle to just short of Cedar Road.
If you have questions about how the new walkways and the Gates Mills Boulevard trail connect to a street you're considering, or how to describe a home's access to the trail when you sell, Katerina Alix can walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
