By Sterling McGinn
The idea of a paved bike trial leading north from Newberry had interested resident Roxanna Transit for some time. Her dream was to create a mecca for walkers and bikers here in Newberry.
Because of Transit’s vision, a Luce County team was created to begin the process of creating a trail, a safe way to bike or hike along the busy stretch of M-123, and ultimately connecting Newberry with the north country.
Luce County was recently invited to join a pilot project being coordinated through the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Transportation Alternatives Program, (TAP), the Walkability Action Institute, and Toole Design. There are seven project sites statewide in the pilot program.
The team’s goal is to promote wellness, improve safety and strengthen the community’s role as the gateway to the Tahquamenon along with providing a year-round access for biking and walking and including winter activities of snowmobiling and skiing.
A site visit took place in Newberry on September 24 and 25 to review the Tahquamenon Trail Project and to allow project leaders to meet with local officials to assist in the design process.
During the two-day site visit, agency representatives in the pilot program met in the conference room at Helen Newberry Joy and toured the Village of Newberry.
“We looked at different issues and spent a day reviewing drawings and designing,” Transit said.
“This idea goes back to a program of the Walkability Action Institute and the purpose of this is to examine the intersection between public health epidemics and transportation and build environment,” said Paul Lippens from Toole Design.
Some of the solutions lie in the way people live, the types of trips that they have to make and the ability to access healthy places and healthy things to do, Lippens said.
“Luce County is part of that first cohort of the State of Michigan that has been selected to go through this process to basically do some intensive planning around project specific outcomes to address public health and obesity concerns,” he said.
A local team consisting of McMillan Township, Helen Newberry Joy Hospital, and the Luce County EDC attended a three-day training event this spring. Transit, who has a background in education, said it was the best conference she’d ever attended.
Prior to being invited to participate in the pilot program, the Luce County team took several preliminary steps in the design process. This included the McMillan Township Board supporting and paying $1,000 for a 2022 wetland delineation study that noted wetland areas along the four miles between the railroad tracks in the village to County Road 407.
Transit envisioned an eight-foot-wide paved path that would run parallel to M-123 on the west side. She learned that the state had a 78-foot-wide easement along those four miles.
Michigan’s Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) visited and determined that the west side of the road wasn’t an option, but the east side was. The project shifted to the east side of the road.
Now part of the pilot project, Luce County’s project includes creating a bike/walking trail starting from Zellar Meadows, leading to the TORC park trailhead at the north end of Newberry. The existing snowmobile route through the village would link the two areas.
There is also a plan to build a pedestrian-friendly railroad crossing near the train station to provide a safer access to the TORC park. This would give bikers and walkers easier access to the TORC park.
The group also looked at the bridge crossing the Tahquamenon River north of Newberry. Transit thinks the bridge could be reconfigured to accommodate the paved path without having to construct a separate bridge.
To fund this project, the team is applying for a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant in May of next year.
“We are also applying in February for a Safe Routes to School grant—they are in the process of collecting some of the data,” Transit said.
There is no required match for that grant, which would improve a number of sidewalks in the village creating safer routes for kids walking to and from school.
Watch the Newberry News for further updates.
