Trails in the News - Press Clipping Files
Media Articles of Interest to Trail Enthusiasts
9/16/09
Alpena County looks at supporting trail
Alpena County's budget committee will have to determine if the county has the funding necessary to contribute to an Alpena to Cheboygan trail project.
Last year, the county board of commissioners supported the project, but did not not commit funding. Each county the trail runs through - Alpena, Presque Isle and Cheboygan - was asked to commit $20,000 to the project. Presque Isle and Cheboygan have each committed their portion.
The 70-mile, crushed limestone trail would run from Alpena through Alpena Township, Maple Ridge Township, Posen, Millersburg and Onaway before ending in Cheboygan. Its $3.1 million price tag is mostly covered by grant money, but a 5 percent match - about $156,000 - is required from local government.
Emily Meyerson, trailways coordinator for the Top of Michigan Trails Council, asked the Alpena County Finance Committee to commit $20,000 toward the project because engineering work on the trail has begun, and the local matching funds need to be met for the grant money to be released.
The funds would be programmed in the 2010 budget but released in 2011, committee Chairman Gerald Fournier said. He said that may create a problem because county officials have repeatedly warned of the financial problems the county could face in 2011 if state revenue sharing isn't restored.
Fournier said he supports the trail project but the $20,000 expense may be hard to justify given the financial climate.
"It's a good thing ... but to say to a man 'you're laid off but we're giving $20,000 to rails to trails' (isn't fair)," he said.
Onaway City Manager Joe Hefele spoke to the committee in support of the project. Onaway has committed $2,640 to the project.
Hefele said it may be the only chance a project of this scope is done in the area because so much of the funding is coming from state and federal sources.
"We see a lot of bang for our buck with this," Hefele said.
The finance committee voted unanimously to send the $20,000 request to the budget committee, which will hold its first meeting Oct. 8.
Sean Harkins can be reached via e-mail at sharkins@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.
09/15/2009
Trails in the News, Final Leg of Wheelway Now Under Construction
By Noah Fowle News-Review Staff WriterTuesday, September 15, 2009 9:20 AM EDT.
MDOT officials arrived on the final three mile stretch along M-119 to complete the bike path on Monday, beginning work at the west of end of the trail’s last leg. Work is expected to be finished by early November.
According to Bill Wahl, a delivery engineer on the project, traffic disruption will vary from day to day, and he said local residents should not be surprised if they fail to see workers on certain days.
“A lot of the first week, we will not be visible from the roadway,” he said. “Some days we’ll be right up on the road. (Tuesday) we have to drop a tree and that will close a lane, but a lot of the work won’t affect traffic.”
Most local residents living along M-119 are excited about the arrival of the bike path for a combination of safety, environmental and economical reasons.
Danna Widmar, the executive director of Harbor Area Regional Board of Resources Inc., has worked on planning the final portion of the trail for the last six years and said she believes the completed trail will also do a lot to add to the quality of life to the whole community.
“Trails are so important because they can significantly alleviate traffic issues during the brief peak period in the summer,” she said. “Vehicular traffic can have a negative impact on the adjacent properties and trail usage can help reduce vehicle counts. ”
Timothy Offenhauser participated on the planning committee when the trail was extended out of Petoskey along M-119 near his business and said he was pleased to give a considerable easement to the portion of the bike path that runs in front of his home.
“It gets bikes off the road and anytime you can get some separation between bikes and cars, that’s a good thing,” he said. “I’m paranoid as a driver when bikes are around.”
Kay Hughes said she and her husband, Jerome, also agreed to an easement. Hughes supports the bike path in part because she wants her grandchildren to have a safer way to access Harbor Springs, and she also expects to be able to use the trail as an alternative to going into town on quick errands.
“I’ll ride into a town when I need a little something for dinner or something from the hardware store,” she said.
Virginia Allerding said she would have liked to see the bike path on the opposite side of the road because the bike path will complicate getting in and out of her home. Still, she said the upcoming work is not a surprise and she understands the benefits the bike path will extend to the rest of the community.
“Unfortunately, it will be right in front of our house. We would have preferred that it was below the hills or across the highway,” she said. “But we’ve expected it and knew it was coming. Now, we’re just looking forward to it.”
Patricia Pemberton agreed with Allerding, and added she will be happy to see bike riders on a safer route.
“I can’t rush out to the road. I have to be careful when I’m pulling out and go slow, but that’s no problem,” she said.
Once finished, the bike bath will extend 36 miles, uninterrupted connecting Charlevoix to Harbor Springs, a goal that has been more than 30 years in the making.
The Top of Michigan Trails Council has played an ongoing role developing other portions of the trail, and executive director Anne McDevitt said there is also a lot of outside interest in the trail’s completion.
“We get phone calls from people down state wanting to know when it will be finished,” she said. “Our new maps of the Little Traverse Wheelway have been flying off the racks.”
Widmar added a ceremony celebrating the start of the final phase of work will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Reynolds Field in Harbor Springs.
Noah Fowle 439-9374 - nfowle@petoskeynews.com
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