By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
For years advocates from the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority (DDA) have been brainstorming ways to connect the Paint Creek Trail to downtown Lake Orion.
As of July 2, the wait is over.
The trail, which stops short of Atwater St. at Atwater Commons condominiums, was just approved for a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant to continue the path through downtown Lake Orion.
Federal funds for non-motorized improvements total $263,232, administered through the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).
The DDA would chip in 20 percent of the total project cost, $329,040, or $65,808.
For DDA Director Suzanne Perrault, this could be a deal maker.
Not only will it have a very positive impact on the businesses, she said, it can give Lake Orion some statewide spotlight.
It’s going to bring more people into the downtown, and we also have this future connection to Oxford and the regional trail system from Bell Isle to Wisconsin,? she said. ‘It’s getting people to look at this state as a whole, and we’re a little piece of that. That’s why it’s so awesome for us.?
The next step is to secure the needed land easement with Lake Orion Lumber.
The DDA needs approximately a 700-foot by 20-foot chunk of land to make a large portion of the path.
From Atwater Commons, the one-mile path would cross Atwater St. utilizing a mid-block crossing, cross behind Lake Orion Lumber on Broadway St., head over the bridge at Meek’s Park, scoot up Anderson St. and hop on Elizabeth St., which would take users up near the Kroger plaza on M-24 and Elizabeth.
The main portion of the path will be in sight distance of the downtown, and much safer to use than putting people on Broadway, Perrault said.
Once construction and engineering plans are submitted to MDOT, and approved, the bidding process could begin this fall, and construction could begin as early as next spring in time for the summer of 2016.
Perrault is also planning for a signage project that would, in detail, direct trail users to specific destinations in the downtown.
‘It’s a very important project for a lot of people,? she said.