Two public meetings are planned this month in New Buffalo to give updates on the Michigan section of the Marquette Greenway, which will eventually connect southwest Michigan to Chicago with a 60-mile, fully paved bike trail.
The project received an $18 million federal grant last year, and several sections have received millions through Indiana state Next Level Trails grants.
Twenty-two miles of the trail in Indiana are already built, with 33 more miles fully funded and planned for construction or upgrades.
That leaves a 1-mile gap near Burns Harbor that’s still in the planning stages, and the final 4 miles from the Indiana state line to downtown New Buffalo.
Marcy Hamilton, senior planner and deputy executive director of the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission, said the route is already very popular with bikers.
“We want to make it as safe as we can for folks by providing an actual trail that they can be on and be separated, for the most part, from traffic,” Hamilton said. “So, it’s more attainable for more people to use this route for biking, safer for families.”
Construction of the Michigan portion is expected to start in 2023, Hamilton said, and most of the full trail to Chicago should be completed by 2025.
Two open houses for the Michigan section are scheduled in New Buffalo:
- Thursday, July 7th, 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. — New Buffalo Township Hall
- Saturday July 23rd, 10:00 a.m. 11:30 a.m. — New Buffalo City Hall
“We want to make sure that property owners along the route understand that it’s going to be built in the public right-of-way,” Hamilton said. “And understand where the route goes, where the trailhead is in New Buffalo, what’s going to be there, type of amenities, the parking and the signage, so the residents in the area can understand the project.”
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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