Significant progress is underway on several trail projects across Grand Traverse County, including a final fundraising push to reconstruct the TART Trail by Holiday Road, downtown trail improvements as part of the East Front Street/Grandview Parkway project, and fundraising and easement work for the ambitious $12.5 million expansion of the Three Mile Trail.

TART Transformation
TART Trails is closing in on a $15,000 fundraising goal to close a budget gap on a $175,000 project to reconstruct an eastern section of the TART Trail this summer north and south of Holiday Road. The organization held a crowdfunding event Thursday ahead of a June 30 fundraising deadline, with only a few thousand dollars left to raise.

The trail section around Holiday Road is “consistently susceptible to stormwater runoff and sinking asphalt due to its proximity to wetland areas on the eastern side of the trail,” according to TART Trails. The organization plans to stabilize the soil underneath the trail, redirect stormwater runoff, and repave the asphalt as part of a project it’s calling TART Transformation 2.0. “If you’ve ridden that section of trail, you’ll know sinkholes are a normal part of that trail experience,” TART Trails Chief Executive Officer Julie Clark tells The Ticker. 

TART Trails has been able to raise most of the budget through grants, with donations helping to cover the rest. Team Elmer’s is contracted to do the work, which is expected to start in July and wrap up by August. Clark says TART Trails is partnering with adjacent businesses in the affected section to detour trail traffic through their properties while construction is underway.

Downtown TART Trail
After Traverse City commissioners voted in May to contract with Team Elmer’s to make improvements to the downtown TART Trail this summer in conjunction with the reconstruction of East Front Street and Grandview Parkway, crews were able to quickly start trail work along East Front – with the corridor now reopened ahead of schedule before the National Cherry Festival.

Trail work in that section entailed connecting public properties on the north side of US-31, including new 10-foot multi-use and 6-foot pedestrian facilities at Sunset Park and NMC's Hagerty Center – transitioning to a 12-foot multi-use trail at the Senior Center. Team Elmer’s Project Manager Sean Sebela says trail signage will be installed early next week. “We’re glad we could install this section at the same time as the US-31/Front Street reconstruction,” Sebela says. “Being able to use the same road closures is a great benefit in safety, time, and cost savings.”

More trail work will occur along with the reconstruction of Grandview Parkway from East Front Street to Division Street, which will start July 8 (after the Cherry Festival) and continue through mid-November. A new 10-foot multi-use path will be constructed along the southern portion of Grandview Parkway between Division Street and the existing 8-foot sidewalk at Harbor View Centre (across from the volleyball courts). Work will take place July 8 though Labor Day. After Labor Day, crews will begin reconstructing the asphalt TART Trail on the north side of Grandview Parkway between Clinch Park and 200 feet east of the Park Street/Grandview intersection with separated 10-foot cycle/multi-use and 10-foot pedestrian facilities. That work is expected to go through mid-November. The timing means no trail closures or detours along the TART bayfront trail during the summer season.

Clark says TART Trails – a funding partner in the trail project along with the city, state, and Downtown Development Authority (DDA) – is hoping to extend the widened trail from the Senior Center to Peninsula Drive, though easements couldn’t be obtained in time for that to happen this summer. TART Trails is also working with the city to eventually extend the trail up Peninsula Drive all the way to Eastern Avenue and Eastern Elementary School. Additional trail work is planned for next summer when the state continues reconstructing Grandview Parkway between Division Street and Cherry Bend Road, including widening the existing narrow bayfront sidewalk to a full-size trail. Elmwood Township is working on plans to extend the trail down Cherry Bend Road to the township hall.

Three Mile Trail
Finally, the trail and sidewalk system along Three Mile and Hammond roads is on track to significantly expand over the next three years pending a successful fundraising campaign, connecting four East Bay Township schools, the township hall, the Oleson’s Plaza, and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) headquarters.

East Bay Township plans to make walking and biking upgrades around the schools in 2025 thanks to a Safe Routes to School grant. That could be followed by two major phases of work in 2026 and 2027 to expand the Three Mile Trail from South Airport Road to Hammond Road. That project, estimated at $12.5 million, is planned to be covered by $7.5 million in public funds and $5 million in private funds. Township trustees recently committed $1 million and agreed to be the owner and maintainer of the trail, with $500,000 designated in the project budget for a long-term maintenance fund. $1.9 million in public funds and just under $800,000 in private funds have been raised for the extension.

Project partners are pursuing at least two major grants for the trail this year, including through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Transportation Alternatives Program. If they can hit their “fundraising marks,” Clark says work could break ground in 2026 between South Airport Road and the GTRLC parking lot, followed by a buildout of the southern section from GTRLC to Hammond in 2027. TART Trails is in the process this summer of finalizing easement agreements with the three property owners along the proposed route, including GTRLC, Alta Vista Holdings, LLC, and Grand Traverse Academy. 

Pictured (clockwise from left): Downtown trail expansion, trail damage near Holiday Road, rendering of Three Mile Trail extension. Photo credit: TART Trails.