Trails in the News - Press Clipping Files

09/20/2006

Harbor Inc's Danna Widmar Discusses Trail Plans

Harbor Light News

Try and try until you succeed. That may be the unwritten moto of HARBOR Inc.'s executive director Danna Widmar when it comes to creating trails into downtown Harbor Springs. Despite plenty of setbacks and lots of discussions, Widmar and her organization pressed on to find a feasible route to complete the trail system between Harbor Springs and Petoskey (which ultimately ends in Charlevoix).

"M-119 (from Little Traverse Wheelway's current end at the Harbor Springs airport into downtown Harbor Springs) is going to have a trail put in during the spring of 2008," she said, her enthusiasm coming through over the phone during an interview last week.

"The Michigan Department of Transportation will be letting the contract for the trail's design at the end of October. Everything will be done by an engineering firm, and we're hoping they use someone local. Once a firm has been selected, we'll start dealing with the details such as the environmental aspects, width of the trail, and so on."

Part of the process of making the trail a reality was working with property owners to create easements to allow the trail to go through. Widmar said that Kiwanis of Harbor Springs picked up the easement project this summer, and has been working with a variety of property owners.

"Their dedication to this project will likely result if a few more easements, which is so great," she said.

Although not all property owners on the route have provided easements-which are given to the Michigan Department of Transportation the trail will be able to be built (it will simply run along the road in places where an easement was not provided).

"In theory, once the engineering firm starts its work, all the easements that are going to be given will be in place. Having said that, for those who have conceptually said yes to an easement but have not yet signed an agreement, we will likely have a small amount of leeway. We do want people to know though that there are deadlines now, and the clock is ticking," Widmar said.

Funding for trail construction is already in place, Widmar said, which is a major plus.

"We do have to wait a little while longer, because actual construction will not begin until spring of 2008, and if everything is not completed by our peak season, we will have to wait until the fall to see the trail completed," she said.

With the M-119 section of trail sown up, Widmar is already doing field verification work on additional trails, she said.

"The document itself will be in the hands of our committee at the end of this month," she said of the potential trail projects.

One of the areas Widmar said many people are interested in seeing a trail is from Hoyt and Quick Roads to the schools.

"We are actually looking at ways to connect that section of town to the schools, and we may be able to get funding for such a project through the Safe Routes to School program. It's one avenue we are at least looking at pursuing, although if it turns out to be a relatively inexpensive project and we can get the funding locally, that may end up being an easier way to go."

In general terms, Widmar said a major focus will be placed on "really looking at the details of how to make connections happen within a mile or so of the schools."

Another project HARBOR Inc. is currently involved with when it comes to trails are twotrack tracking.

"There are a number of twotracks that people use for trails in this area. Some are public, some are not," Widmar said. "We are currently in the process of talking to property owners to make these trails 'official.' We would like to designate funds to make the trails part of our greater trail system, so that we don't see the trails disappearing 10 or 15 years down the road."

Bringing the conversation back to the final easement stages of the M-119 project, Widmar said it is looking 10 or 15 years into the future that makes that specific trail so exciting.

"The M-119 easements make such a long-term impact," she said. "Specifically speaking, a trail easement cannot be used for roads. That easement actually sets the boundary of the road, and in order to ever expand the road, there would be a lot of extra effort to see the easement removed.

"This is an opportunity for us to look at more than just the trail itself. It's saying 'let's not just let construction happen, let's make sure it benefits the community.' These easements and this trail will do that both now and in the future. It's wonderful that we can work together locally to do something with such great local benefits."

HARBOR Inc.'s web-site is www.harborinc.org. More information on the organization's upcoming projects, as well as trail updates can be found there.

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