By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.– The proposed route and projected costs for the portion of the Iron Belle Trail suggested to run through the township are in.

At the township board’s June 6 meeting, Kristen Wiltfang presented results from the most recent survey seeking opinions from area residents in which 86 percent of the 558 respondents were in favor of trails, and 40 percent preferred the proposed “Route C” for the Iron Belle Trail.

Route C, like all proposed routes, would connect to a trail in Oxford. It includes a small portion of Baldwin Road, a large portion of the ITC corridor, and continues to the corner of Kent Road and Granger Road in the village.

The route is the safest of the four, with the largest portion off road and away from traffic, and also the cheapest.

“Don’t freak out,” said Wiltfang, the senior planner for Oakland County Economic Development and Community Affairs, before she presented the costs to the board.

She then revealed that results of a study by Hubbell, Roth and Clark, an engineering firm, showed that the favored 7.7 mile route has an estimated price tag of $4,968,900, or $647,877 per mile.

“It is very difficult to see those numbers at first, but you are essentially building a 14-foot wide road, it’s like a linear park,” said Wiltfang. “This is relatively in line with other projects of similar size and scope.”

The township has a unique funding opportunity if they choose to pursue the project as well, she added.

In addition to a $300,000 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant and a more than $1 million Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant, the Department of Natural Resources is also working on obtaining nearly $5 million in funds from private donors.

While projects of this magnitude are typically done in segments to make them more affordable for communities, she said she is not sure the township will ever have those private donations in that amount in the near future.

“I would say the likelihood of getting all this money is pretty good, it’s a project the governor would like to see accomplished,” said Supervisor Kathy Thurman. “I think that if we can get all those funds to pay for the project, it would be an excellent recreational attribute to add to our township.”

Numerous grants have been made available to communities along the two proposed Iron Belle Trail routes, a pet project of Gov. Rick Snyder.

Both routes, one for bicycling and one for hiking, both have start/end points at Belle Isle in Detroit and Ironwood in the Upper Peninsula. The bicycling trail, which will be 774 miles from beginning to end, is slated to go through communities including Brandon, Groveland, and Atlas townships, as well as the Village of Ortonville. The hiking trail takes a route to the west and is 1,259 miles. The project hopes to establish new trails in communities that will connect to existing trails.

Brandon Township was already a recipient of a $14,800 DNR grant regarding the trail and used money from this for the HRC study.

In her presentation, Wiltfang noted annual maintenance costs for the trail, which would would be crushed limestone and include boardwalks over wetlands or open water, as well as box culverts to replace deteriorating infrastructure from the old Urban Railroad, would be between $500-$5,000 per mile.

The board is planning to have a workshop, not yet scheduled, to discuss the Iron Belle Trail project further, including more details on construction and maintenance, addressing privacy concerns for residents, policing of the trail, and working with ITC and possible costs on getting an easement from the company.

The board may also still consider the other three proposed routes including the one known as Route A, which is 7.6 miles from Baldwin to Sherwood to Sashabaw to Hummer Lake to Mill Street, estimated to cost $5,851,400.00; Route B, which is Seymour Lake to the ITC corridor to Granger to Hadley to Hummer Lake to Mill for 9.7 miles and costs $7,918,510; and Route D, from Baldwin to Granger to Hadley to Hummer Lake to Mill Street and stretches 8 miles for $8,127,205.

Look for details on the workshop coming soon in The Citizen.