Top route considered for new bike trail

REGION – Slow and steady.

That was the message offered up during last Wednesday’s open house at the Williamsburg Event Center regarding the proposed Acme to Elk Rapids non-motorized trail project.

The open house, attended by approximately 90 people, followed a similar public forum held on Aug. 22 in Elk Rapids. Both served to offer updates on the trail’s design planning and seek public input regarding its future development.

According to organizers with TART Trails, the planning process is part of the larger Traverse City to Charlevoix Trail project, which – once completed – would create a 325-mile network of non-motorized trails in northern Michigan. TART is working with Networks Northwest and the Top of Michigan Trails Council on the design and construction for this segment of the project.

“At the last meeting in August, the discussion focused on possible routes and options,” said Julie Clark, executive director of TART Trails. “Throughout this process we’ve done a lot of listening and learning, and intend to go slow to go steady.

“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle; you have a lot of pieces that make up the big picture and it’s important to find the right pieces and where they should go.”

According to Clark, last summer’s meeting was part of the preliminary design stage that has now led to the engineering phase.

“Tonight we are sharing what we heard or missed, along with potential route alignments and options for the trail,” added Clark while introducing land architect Matt Levandoski and engineer Scott Post of Grand Rapids-based Prein &Newhof, the firm overseeing the project’s design.

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