Supporters Show Enthusiasm for New Stretch of Bike Trail
Supporters show enthusiasm for new stretch of bike trail for a potential connection to the Musketawa Trail. If public enthusiasm can help secure state grant money, the committee that's building the new Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail should have little problem getting the funding it needs. As many as a dozen interested citizens turned out Tuesday at a Muskegon County Commission meeting where a public hearing took place as part of the grant application process for the new bicycle trail.
The citizens loved the idea of having a new 10-mile section of paved trail connecting the existing Hart-Montague and Lakeshore trails, from a point along White Lake Drive to a point along the Causeway in North Muskegon. The turnout was a rarity for public hearings. While the sessions are generally required for any grant application process, few if any people ever show up for them. County commissioners, who were already inclined to support the project, followed the display of public support by voting 11-0 to apply for a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund to help fund the trail.
The county, which will maintain the trail on behalf of the communities it crosses, is also expected to apply for grant, perhaps for as much as $1.4 million, later this year from the Michigan Department of Transportation. Next year the county hopes to secure another grant from the DNR Trust Fund, during the next phase of funding. All the grant money that can be secured, along with the 618,000 already donated by philanthropist Fred Meijer and money being raised locally, is expected to cover the estimated $2 million needed for construction and engineering costs. The first phase of construction, expected in 2008, will pave the northern section from White Lake Drive to McMillan Road and the southern section from Dykstra Road to the Causeway. The final phase, in 2009, will pave the middle section, from McMillan to Dykstra, according to Dalton Township Supervisor Scott Hladki, who chairs the Berry Junction Trail Committee.
Hladki presented petitions at Tuesday's hearing, bearing the signatures of 822 trail supporters. The petitions will accompany the grant application to Lansing. "And I haven't picked up the petitions from Laketon or Fruitland (townships) yet," Hladki told commissioners. "There is a lot of support for this out there. I urge you to get this done." Other citizens backed up Hladki's call. "I heartily recommend that you support this proposal, so we can get the trails tied together, and the Hart-Montague and Lakeshore trailways can become one singular trail system that people can come from across the lake to Muskegon and enjoy," said Harry Wierenga of North Muskegon. Greg Scott, an official from Pioneer Resources, a non-profit group that serves handicapped residents, told commissioners that his organization and its clients use local bicycle trails extensively. "Our club owns special tandem bikes that allow people with disabilities to use the trails," said Scott, who added that Pioneer Resources' leisure and recreation club serves about 400 people with disabilities.
"We were all over the new Muskegon trail about a week after it opened." Muskegon County Undersheriff Dean Roesler said he supports the project, as a private citizen and public official. "As the father of three kids who are out on bikes this time of year, and speaking as undersheriff, the more we can do to get bikes off the roadway and onto trails, the safer it will be," Roesler said. One resident, Gary Rice of Montague, argued for the rights of snowmobilers to use the new trail in the winter months. He noted that his organization, the West Shore Snowmobile Council, helps to maintain the Hart-Montague trail and has been granted the right to use it. "We pay $40 for a trail permit to allow us to be on the trail," Rice argued. "That money goes to the very fund that you're going to apply to so you can build this trail. When our money is being used for that, we would like to have the ability to use it." The Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail Committee will eventually determine whether any sort of motorized vehicles are allowed to use the trail.
By Steve Gunn
sgunn@muskegonchronicle.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Courtesy of the Muskegon Chronicle ©2007
The citizens loved the idea of having a new 10-mile section of paved trail connecting the existing Hart-Montague and Lakeshore trails, from a point along White Lake Drive to a point along the Causeway in North Muskegon. The turnout was a rarity for public hearings. While the sessions are generally required for any grant application process, few if any people ever show up for them. County commissioners, who were already inclined to support the project, followed the display of public support by voting 11-0 to apply for a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund to help fund the trail.
The county, which will maintain the trail on behalf of the communities it crosses, is also expected to apply for grant, perhaps for as much as $1.4 million, later this year from the Michigan Department of Transportation. Next year the county hopes to secure another grant from the DNR Trust Fund, during the next phase of funding. All the grant money that can be secured, along with the 618,000 already donated by philanthropist Fred Meijer and money being raised locally, is expected to cover the estimated $2 million needed for construction and engineering costs. The first phase of construction, expected in 2008, will pave the northern section from White Lake Drive to McMillan Road and the southern section from Dykstra Road to the Causeway. The final phase, in 2009, will pave the middle section, from McMillan to Dykstra, according to Dalton Township Supervisor Scott Hladki, who chairs the Berry Junction Trail Committee.
Hladki presented petitions at Tuesday's hearing, bearing the signatures of 822 trail supporters. The petitions will accompany the grant application to Lansing. "And I haven't picked up the petitions from Laketon or Fruitland (townships) yet," Hladki told commissioners. "There is a lot of support for this out there. I urge you to get this done." Other citizens backed up Hladki's call. "I heartily recommend that you support this proposal, so we can get the trails tied together, and the Hart-Montague and Lakeshore trailways can become one singular trail system that people can come from across the lake to Muskegon and enjoy," said Harry Wierenga of North Muskegon. Greg Scott, an official from Pioneer Resources, a non-profit group that serves handicapped residents, told commissioners that his organization and its clients use local bicycle trails extensively. "Our club owns special tandem bikes that allow people with disabilities to use the trails," said Scott, who added that Pioneer Resources' leisure and recreation club serves about 400 people with disabilities.
"We were all over the new Muskegon trail about a week after it opened." Muskegon County Undersheriff Dean Roesler said he supports the project, as a private citizen and public official. "As the father of three kids who are out on bikes this time of year, and speaking as undersheriff, the more we can do to get bikes off the roadway and onto trails, the safer it will be," Roesler said. One resident, Gary Rice of Montague, argued for the rights of snowmobilers to use the new trail in the winter months. He noted that his organization, the West Shore Snowmobile Council, helps to maintain the Hart-Montague trail and has been granted the right to use it. "We pay $40 for a trail permit to allow us to be on the trail," Rice argued. "That money goes to the very fund that you're going to apply to so you can build this trail. When our money is being used for that, we would like to have the ability to use it." The Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail Committee will eventually determine whether any sort of motorized vehicles are allowed to use the trail.
By Steve Gunn
sgunn@muskegonchronicle.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Courtesy of the Muskegon Chronicle ©2007
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