Work to start this year on trail at Hudson Mills
2.1-mile stretch expected to be 1st leg of 25-mile greenway system through Washtenaw County
Construction of a 2.1-mile, 10-foot wide hiking and biking trail is expected to begin next year at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter Township. It will be the first leg of a 25-mile greenway system through Washtenaw County all the way to Belleville.
After a public hearing last month, officials of the Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority finalized the layout of the trail and submitted it to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for funding, said Dan Duncan, chief park planner for the Brighton-based park authority.
"The new trail will be connected to the existing trail for bikers, walkers and in-line skaters," said Kimberly Jarvis, Hudson Mills park superintendent. The current 2.7-mile trail circles the core area of the park. It was built in 1980 and repaved to its current 10-foot width in 1993 and 1994.
The new trail will begin at the Huron River, crossing on the North Territorial Road bridge, which was built in 1996 with a 10-foot-wide pedestrian lane on the south side. The trail is part of a proposed 5.2-mile system that would skirt the western banks of the Huron River and connect with the Mill Pond in Dexter, allowing hikers or bikers to start in Dexter and go all the way to Hudson Mills and back.
Further down the road, officials envision a 25-mile trail network linking the western and eastern communities of Washtenaw County. Such a trail along the Huron River corridor would be a $10 million, 10-year undertaking by the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission.
The new Hudson Mills trail will cost $761,000, said Duncan. The Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority is seeking $361,000 from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. HCMA will pay $200,000, and the Washtenaw parks commission has committed $150,000. The Southeast Michigan Community Foundation has already provided the remaining $50,000.
If funding is approved by the legislature by October, construction is to begin in the summer of 2004, Duncan said.
HCMA is a regional park district established in 1940 by voters in Washtenaw, Livingston, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. County residents pay one quarter of a mill - 25 cents per $1,000 taxable property value - to support the authority. Currently, it maintains 13 metroparks covering 24,000 acres along the Huron and Clinton rivers, serving 9.5 million visitors annually.
The trail is expected to increase visitation to the park, which recorded 607,000 visitors in 2002. "It makes our community a recreation destination for folks," said Patricia Kelly, Dexter Township supervisor, who regularly goes bike riding in the park with her daughter. "It's nice to be able to showcase our natural features."
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