Trails in the News - Press Clipping Files

01/23/2008

Little Traverse Wheelway to Harbor Springs to be Completed in 2009

A final link in a Charlevoix-to-Harbor Springs recreation trail is now expected to be finished in 2009, officials with the Harbor Area Regional Board of Resources (HARBOR Inc.) said.

Danna Widmar, executive director of HARBOR Inc., said construction of a 3-mile segment of the Little Traverse Wheelway between Pleasantview Road and the eastern edge of Harbor Springs likely will start this fall and conclude next year.

“We were hoping that that would have actually been completed this fall, but there’s been some slippage in getting the final design and easements and things like that,” said Neal McCue, a HARBOR Inc. board member and longtime trail development advocate.

HARBOR Inc., a regional planning organization serving Harbor Springs and nearby townships, arranged for state and federal funding to complete the paved trail extension, which has engineering and construction costs estimated at nearly $1 million.

Federal transportation enhancement funds administered through the Michigan Department of Transportation will cover 80 percent of that expense, with state matching funds taking care of the rest.

The trail, used for non-motorized recreation such as bicycling, running, walking and inline skating, currently runs from the northern outskirts of Charlevoix through Petoskey to the intersection of M-119 and Pleasantview Road in Little Traverse Township.

Wilcox Engineering of Cadillac currently is working on a final phase of engineering for the project, Widmar said, with the plans expected to be ready within two weeks or so. Later on, MDOT will seek contractor bids for construction.

“We’re just very excited to see it at this point,” Widmar said. “A lot of people have worked very, very hard for a long time.”

The trail will be installed along the north side of M-119 between Pleasantview Road and Harbor Springs, ending near the intersection of Lake and Hoyt streets a short distance north of the highway. The new path will be situated about 10 feet from the roadway for two-thirds of its length, with a smaller space between the two for the rest of the route.

HARBOR Inc.’s efforts toward the trail extension began about three years ago. Widmar said securing needed easements has been the most time-consuming task in the project.

“These were all donated easements,” she added.

For the longer term, HARBOR Inc. hopes to create additional trails in the Harbor Springs area which can be linked with the Wheelway, McCue said. HARBOR Inc. and Harbor Springs Public Schools are proposing these other routes in conjunction with the federal Safe Routes to Schools initiative, and hope local youth can use the pathways to get to classes.

Another gap remaining in the Wheelway between Resort Township’s East Park and Petoskey’s Magnus Park is expected to be filled this year. The major funding source for the Petoskey-area project will be an MDOT grant of slightly more than $1 million in federal enhancement funds. Petoskey city officials will contribute an additional $288,376.

Ryan Bentley439-9342 - rbentley@petoskeynews.com

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