The Michigan State Senate will be considering a bill that affects the Trail Systems in Lowell. Although this is not the first time this bill has been proposed, it is the first time it has gained this much traction so quickly. The bill, sponsored by Senator Geoff Hansen, was introduced on February 2nd, 2017 and sent to the Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Committee. It was quickly passed through the Committee on the 23rd. The Senate will vote on this Bill as proposed as there were no amendments and it was recommended with immediate effect.
Senate Bill 0118 (2017), as proposed, will allow the DNR to once again purchase segments of rail line to be used as a Pure Michigan Trail and indemnify the railroad company from liability. Additionally, it will give legal protections to the lessors of the trail. One such lessor would be the Friends of the Fred Meijer River Valley Rail Trails, who currently are working on the fifth longest consecutive trail in the Nation.
Under this Bill, the Lowell Area Recreation Authority (LARA) trail system would save a large sum of money, as the funding to acquire the segment of rail way between Montcalm Avenue and Jackson Street was allocated by the State in 2011 through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. Upon purchase of the out-of-service rail line, the segment of trail would become part of the Fred Meijer River Valley Rail Trail, a Pure Michigan Trial. The DNR Trust fund is funded by royalties from the sale and lease of State-owned mineral rights, and not through taxpayer dollars. The trail will be built using DNR Trust Fund Money and MDOT funds that have been earmarked for nonmotorized facilities and programs. Once built, the trail will be maintained without the need for taxpayer dollars. The $3,000,000 Meijer Endowment Fund will cover the cost of maintenance in perpetuity.
According to Robert Brown, Chairman of the Friends of the Fred Meijer River Valley Rail Trails, “My colleagues throughout Michigan are ecstatic for the introduction of Senate Bill 0118, sponsored by State Senator Hansen. Locally, this bill will greatly improve the safety of our trail network in Lowell, further stimulate the regional economy, and provide the potential of expanding our trail from Lowell to Elmdale”.
Brown also reiterated that this legislation would assist in the completion of the 127 mile Fred Meijer Mid Michigan Trail Network and would have no fiscal impact on the State or local governments. The current proposed plan drafted by the Lowell Area Recreation Authority is to widen the shoulder of roughly one mile of Grand River Drive. However, the purchase of a one mile stretch of tracks from Jackson Street in Lowell to Montcalm Ave. will provide a safer and more cost effective plan. The Jackson street portion has the potential to be developed into a trailhead which could provide parking, bathroom facilities, picnic area and perhaps an old railway car. Talks are underway to secure a donated railway car, which could serve as the centerpiece to the not yet designed trailhead, a classic addition to the trail route.
Through a system called Railbanking, the State would be able to convert the trail back to a railway should an event occur that should require such an action. The State has not enjoyed the option of Railbanking since 2011. Railbanking is a transfer of ownership, basically described as a voluntary agreement between the National Trails System and the railroad company where the trail agency has permission to use the unused railway corridor for pedestrian trails, until a time when the railroad deems it necessary to use the rails again. This allows the State or the trail systems better access to the out-of-service railways, without putting the future, perhaps emergency need of the railway in jeopardy.
Brown is encouraging those interested in seeing the growth and completion of the Fred Meijer Mid Michigan Trail Network, as well as the prospect of Lowell being the next Trail Town, to contact your Senator, and encourage them to support Senate Bill 0118.
Leave a Reply