Trails in the News - Press Clipping Files

03/12/2007

Get out and Bike on the Wheelway

Editorial, Petoskey News-Review

GET OUT AND BIKE

Three cheers for — and by — bike path backers such as The Top of Michigan Trails Council, Little Traverse Wheelway committee, Little Traverse Bay Kiwanians, Emmet County, the state, the feds, the city of Petoskey, Bear Creek Township, Bay Harbor, Charlevoix County, Charlevoix Township, to name a few.

And thanks to taxpayers, who ultimately bear the bulk of the cost.

The dreams of these path enthusiasts are about to come true.

Decades in the making, a critical link in the roughly 26-mile path has drawn a step closer to falling into place.

Petoskey City Council recently authorized a city contract with Northwest Design Group of Petoskey. The firm will provide engineering services as part of the planning efforts for a Little Traverse Wheelway bike path segment between Petoskey’s Magnus Park and Resort Township’s East Park.

This is an unofficial stretch of trail which runs primarily along an old railroad grade, but which has been off limits because of property ownership and use disputes, combined with safety and access problems. It starts in Magnus Park, runs in front of the Petoskey sewage treatment plant and heads along a breathtaking Little Traverse Bay bluff for more than a mile before meeting up with a trail leading to Resort Township’s East Park and the bulk of the bike path all the way to Charlevoix.

Building this into an official path won’t be cheap, as anyone who has been on the path can surely guess.

But when it is done, it will be the most beautiful piece of an already spectacular resource.

Engineering services not to exceed $190,000 were approved to be spent by the city. But on top of that, the path is projected to cost $1.3 million to construct — $1 million in federal funds, $150,000 by the city and other governments picking up the rest of the costs.

Construction probably won’t start until 2008, but could start early, city manager George Korthauer said.

This bike path is important to the tourist economy and recreation opportunities for Northern Michigan residents, as the millions of dollars poured into the project already should attest. Completing this segment will take bike riders, joggers, inline skaters, walkers, etc., off a dangerous, noisy, noxious road shoulder onto a path unparalleled.

We can’t wait until it’s complete. Our thanks and appreciation go out to all of those who have played or will play a role in making this dream come true.
Three cheers for — and by — bike path backers such as The Top of Michigan Trails Council, Little Traverse Wheelway committee, Little Traverse Bay Kiwanians, Emmet County, the state, the feds, the city of Petoskey, Bear Creek Township, Bay Harbor, Charlevoix County, Charlevoix Township, to name a few.

And thanks to taxpayers, who ultimately bear the bulk of the cost.

The dreams of these path enthusiasts are about to come true.

Decades in the making, a critical link in the roughly 26-mile path has drawn a step closer to falling into place.

Petoskey City Council recently authorized a city contract with Northwest Design Group of Petoskey. The firm will provide engineering services as part of the planning efforts for a Little Traverse Wheelway bike path segment between Petoskey’s Magnus Park and Resort Township’s East Park.

This is an unofficial stretch of trail which runs primarily along an old railroad grade, but which has been off limits because of property ownership and use disputes, combined with safety and access problems. It starts in Magnus Park, runs in front of the Petoskey sewage treatment plant and heads along a breathtaking Little Traverse Bay bluff for more than a mile before meeting up with a trail leading to Resort Township’s East Park and the bulk of the bike path all the way to Charlevoix.

Building this into an official path won’t be cheap, as anyone who has been on the path can surely guess.

But when it is done, it will be the most beautiful piece of an already spectacular resource.

Engineering services not to exceed $190,000 were approved to be spent by the city. But on top of that, the path is projected to cost $1.3 million to construct — $1 million in federal funds, $150,000 by the city and other governments picking up the rest of the costs.

Construction probably won’t start until 2008, but could start early, city manager George Korthauer said.

This bike path is important to the tourist economy and recreation opportunities for Northern Michigan residents, as the millions of dollars poured into the project already should attest. Completing this segment will take bike riders, joggers, inline skaters, walkers, etc., off a dangerous, noisy, noxious road shoulder onto a path unparalleled.

We can’t wait until it’s complete. Our thanks and appreciation go out to all of those who have played or will play a role in making this dream come true.

---