By John Counts
Outdoor enthusiasts will now have a little more trail to walk, run or bike on in Orion.
Three and a half miles more, to be exact.
The Polly Ann Trail recently opened a new segment in Orion Township, near Civic Center Park.
The Polly Ann Trail is a 14.2-mile, non-motorized trail located in Oakland County Michigan in suburban Detroit. The trail connects the communities of Orion Township, Oxford Township, the Village of Oxford, Addison Township, and the Village of Leonard.
One of the major attractions of this non-motorized trail is the fact that it follows an old railroad line so users will not be bothered by the noises and fumes from the cars on the road along the way. ?
The approximate cost to create the trail is $540,000 with $75,000 coming from the GreenWays Initiative, a program of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan which funds other greenways throughout the City of Detroit and the seven county region.
‘It’s a terrific project in that it connects all these different communities,? said Tom Woiwode of the Community Foundation. ‘It provides ways for people to think about their area in a different way.?
Since its inception in 2001, grants have been awarded by the Community Foundation for projects that, when completed, will have been used to acquire more than 575 acres of land, construct more than 100 miles of greenways, and link 80 different cities and towns to neighboring communities; approximately one-third of the entire region.
The project has been a few years in the making. The township first paid for preliminary design costs back in 2006.
Kris Enlow, a project enigneer from Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment (OHM), helped design the path.
‘It’s 10-foot wide, similar to Paint Creek Trail,? he said.
There was a lot of work to be done at the beginning, he added.
‘The whole thing was kind of a two-track,? he said. ‘Some of the shrubbery was overgrown.?
Now, the trail is complete. It was unveiled at a ribbon cutting on Monday, Sept. 7.