TART Extension Goes to Planning Commission; More Trail Updates

A planned extension of the TART trail in downtown Traverse City will go tonight (Tuesday) before city planning commissioners, who will be asked to approve the project as consistent with the city’s master plan. It’s one of several major TART Trails projects underway across the region, with engineering work also progressing on the Three Mile Trail extension and the Maple Bay to Elk Rapids segment of the Nakwema Trailway.

Downtown TART Extension
After reviewing conceptual plans last year, several city boards – starting with the planning commission tonight and then including parks and recreation, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and the city commission – will review the final proposed design for the improvement and extension of the bayfront TART trail in downtown Traverse City.

Planning commissioners will be asked to approve the project as consistent with the city’s master plan in terms of “location, character, and extent,” according to the proposed motion. State law requires planning commissions to sign off on most public improvement projects that occur within an area covered by a community’s master plan. The city, TART Trails, and DDA are partnering to improve the bayfront trail in conjunction with the state’s planned reconstruction of Grandview Parkway/East Front Street between Division Street and Garfield Avenue next year.

The final trail plan – designed by Progressive AE – calls for expanding the segments of the existing trail width to 16 feet, with 10 feet dedicated to bi-directional bicycle use and six feet dedicated to pedestrian use. The plan also envisions future trail connections east of the Senior Center along East Front Street and Peninsula Drive (the section of trail from the East Front/Peninsula Drive intersection up to Eastern Avenue still needs to be designed in a future phase of work). The plan offers an alternative trail crossing over the Murchie Bridge and calls for expanding a trail connection on the south side of Grandview Parkway from Hall Street to Division Street.

The entire trail project is envisioned to be tackled in phases, starting with the “priority” segment of Murchie Bridge to the Senior Center next year in conjunction with the road reconstruction, says TART Trails CEO Julie Clark. The total estimated cost for that particular trail segment is $1,242,898. Proposed funding sources include a state Revitalization and Placemaking Program grant, for which TART Trails is applying ($500,000/40 percent) – plus the City of Traverse City ($421,449/34 percent), DDA ($200,000/16 percent), and TART Trails ($121,449/10 percent).

Clark believes the project design fits within with the city’s master plan. “We’re excited about it, because it makes connections that have been talked about for 13 years,” she says, referring to the city’s 2010 Bayfront plan. City Planning Director Shawn Winter also found the project to be consistent with the master plan in a memo to planning commissioners. The master plan calls for implementing improvements described in the Bayfront plan, as well as working to make Traverse City more pedestrian friendly. The master plan also calls for more “energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly transportation choices,” increasing non-motorized transportation options, and expanding the active transportation network to include “bicycle lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, multi-use trails, etc.” Infrastructure investment should be focused near “activity centers,” the master plan states, including areas near major shopping destinations and leisure activities.

After the Murchie Bridge to Senior Center segment, additional trail work in the corridor could be tackled in phases beyond 2024. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) also plans to expand trail options between Division Street and Cherry Bend Road when it reconstructs that corridor in 2025, including building a potential new 12-foot-wide non-motorized trail on the water side of the corridor along the entire 2.3-mile project stretch. Elmwood Township is undertaking design work to further extend the trail system from Cherry Bend Road to the township hall, according to Clark.

Three Mile Trail Extension
Engineering work is nearly 30 percent complete on a planned extension of the Three Mile Trail from South Airport Road to Hammond Road. Clark says TART Trails will host an open house later this summer or early fall to showcase the design work to the public. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy – a partner in the trail project, along with East Bay Township – recently acquired an addition to Mitchell Creak Meadows: The Don and Jerry Oleson Nature Preserve that will allow the new trail to run through property closer to Three Mile Road, creating a more direct route south.

“It’ll be a better experience for trail users,” says Clark of the new route. “It’s more straightforward and less impactful to land because it’s closer to the edge instead of being in the deep interior. It’s important from a visibility, transportation, and environmental perspective.”

The total project cost for the trail extension is estimated at $15 million, some of which has already been raised and spent (such as for design work). The project has already been awarded $900,000 in federal funding, with TART Trails working on additional grants and allocations. The project could eventually have a 60/40 split between public and private funding sources. Depending on fundraising, the project could either be built all at once or in phases, Clark says. She’s hopeful TART Trails could break ground in 2025, with the majority of construction likely to occur in 2026.

Nakwema Trailway
Finally, TART Trails and Top of Michigan Trails Council staff and volunteers will be on hand at the Evening on River Street in Elk Rapids on August 2 and 9 from 6pm to 9pm to talk trails, including the Traverse City-to-Charlevoix Nakwema Trailway. Following the recent completion of the Acme Connector segment of the Nakwema, the next phase is the Maple Bay to Elk Rapids segment of the trail. Clark says the goal is to soon close out engineering on that stretch, calling it a “top priority.” Easement acquisition discussions with property owners and fundraising for construction will follow.