Trails in the News - Press Clipping Files

07/30/2008

Trails in the News, Road Deteriorates While Non-Motorized Trail is Planned, Editorial

Northern Michigan trails are generally a good thing for everyone.

They provide safe places for people to bike and hike through the scenic areas of Northern Michigan, usually within eyesight of some of the major roads leading from city to city — take for example the paved biking and walking trail along U.S. 31 between Charlevoix and Petoskey. These trails also help bring tourism to the area in the form of bicyclists, hikers and even snowmobiliers who cannot experience similar kinds of rural wonder in the cities they live.

Currently there is work on a possible new trail being planned along Boyne City/Charlevoix Road.

In June, the Boyne City Commission agreed to sponsor a grant application for the project.

The grant, if approved by state transportation officials, would bring in $611,300 toward a project with an estimated total cost of $3.4 million. Boyne City’s portion of the cost would be $11,072 and would be payable only if the grant is approved and the project moves forward.

Current plans call for the first phase of the trail to run along Boyne City-Charlevoix Road from Horton Bay to Boyne City. The in-town portion of the trail would run from the city limits to the intersection of West Court and Robinson streets. The first phase of the trail is expected to cost $1.1 million.

Future phases of the project to link Horton Bay to Charlevoix are expected to cost about $2.3 million.

It is hoped that a lot of this money will come from grants.

However, here is the interesting note. If this trail becomes a reality, it would be interesting to see the reaction from drivers on Boyne City/Charlevoix Road as they notice a nicely paved bike trail next to the severely crumbling, and some would say dangerous, road they are traveling down.

In recent months road officials and citizens have raised concerns over the deteriorating condition of Boyne City-Charlevoix Road. Road commission officials have said it will likely be several years before state and federal money is available to fix the road — a project with an estimated price tag of more than $5 million.

A citizen's group has been hard at work trying to find money to fix this road.

It would be very nice if some of this grant money was available to actually fix that road and not just create a biking trail. However, Charlevoix County Road Commission manager Pat Harmon said the grant money for this trail could not be used to rebuild the crumbling Boyne City/Charlevoix Road.

While we think it is great that the local governments are moving forward on this paved trail along Boyne City/Charlevoix Road, we hope that soon similar money could be found for the actual road. Surely if we can find them money for a trail, we should be able to find the money for a road.

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