Marion Motley Fields

Cleveland officials are hoping to make a $2 million dirt bike track at Marion Motley Fields.

(Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The city is considering building a $2 million motocross track on the East Side to provide a space for dirt bike riders whose death-defying stunts have become commonplace on city streets.

The track would be built at what is now the Marion Motley Playfield on Carson Avenue, the former Carson Park. City Council will discuss the track Wednesday at a council of the whole meeting.

Mayor Frank Jackson said the park, which he believes would be the first inner-city track of its kind in the country, will not only provide a space for the droves of dirt bikers to legally ride, but they will also partner with a local dirt bike mechanic to teach younger riders how to fix bikes.

"People get hurt riding in the street," Jackson said. "There's a growing demand for this and this would provide legitimacy to it. It will be a place they can come every day to ride, or they can learn how to fix the bikes while they're there. We believe we're the first in the country to address this culture in an urban scene."

The city's dirt bike riders are spotted often throughout the city, zipping in an out of traffic, sometimes at high speeds on highways or in neighborhood streets. Many post videos of their stunts on social media.

Riding dirt bikes on city streets is illegal, yet riders come from as far away as Detroit to ride on the streets of Cleveland. Riders from Cleveland also travel to ride in other cities.

Still, Jackson and Community Relations Director Blaine Griffin said when they started reaching out to dirt bike riders about two years ago, they discovered riders from different neighborhoods who otherwise feuded found common ground in riding.

"There are some from the street life, Jackson said.

"But one thing that's common among them is their love for dirt bikes. They set aside their differences for that moment when they're riding."

Jackson said he views the project as a way to bring together feuding neighborhood factions with police and city officials to provide a positive alternative to street riding. He said some riders are involved in street crimes but a lot of the riders simply like to ride but have nowhere to ride but the streets.

"They are riding in the streets or going to other venues in other states," Griffin said. "The riders told us they wanted a place where they could do this here."

Jackson said street riders have posed a danger to themselves and caused headaches for the police. In one case last year, 27-year-old Devin Bush died when he crashed his dirt bike into a pickup while speeding down the wrong way of a one-way street. Jackson said the track will require riders to wear helmets and promote safety.

Jackson's grandson, Frank Q. Jackson, is one of the riders and has twice been arrested for illegally riding his bike on city streets, including on July 31. The mayor said he learned how deeply the culture has been ingrained in many people's everyday lives in the city through his grandson.

"He's in love with these things," the mayor said. "Once he got into it, I got a deep dive into seeing his friends, who he rides with. He started when he was about 17 and he was riding with guys who were 40. They treated him like he was one of them."

It remains to be seen if riders will continue riding on the streets if the track is built. Jackson is optimistic, as is Johnnie Burton, an instructor at the Power Sports Institute branch of Ohio Technical College.

Burton, who is a third-generation rider and teaches dirt-bike mechanics at the school, will provide instruction at the track to riders who want to learn how to fix bikes in the hopes of creating future job opportunities.

Burton said he fixes a lot of the dirt bikes in the city and said he senses that riders will gravitate to wherever their friends are riding. He also said the track will centralize the city's riders and provide more realistic opportunities for riders attracting sponsorship through companies to compete in professional stunt riding circuits.

"You can become famous from this, and you can get paid doing this," Burton said. "But you can't do that riding in your neighborhood. If you're as good as you say you are, you'll have to come down to the track and prove it. If you do, we'll put you out there, and that's how you get on a circuit."