By Jim Bloch
Marysville has okayed a final preliminary design to close a major gap in the 54-mile Bridge-to-Bay-Trail — from Lake Huron to Anchor Bay in Lake St. Clair — within its city limits.
At its regular meeting June 26, the city council voted 6-1 to approve constructing an asphalt bike trail along the east side of River Road, which handles two-way traffic, from Riverlawn Cemetery to Mack Road; constructing another section of trail along the east side of the one-way section of River Road from Mack to Davis Road; and constructing a path along the north side of Davis Road from River Road to Busha Hwy./M-29, where it will connect to the bike trail heading north out of St. Clair Township.
The path will be a 10-foot wide asphalt surface, separated from the traffic by a three-foot buffer and/or by flexible “delineators” every 50 feet or so. It will be built in city right-of-way all along its course.
All affected driveways will be rebuilt, said engineer Lara Beyer, of Project Control Engineering. Drainage issues will be addressed as the project proceeds.
Debate
Proponents and opponents of the plan have addressed the city council at every meeting over the past few months
It was no different June 26 — except that there were more people.
For almost an hour, 21 residents and other interested parties addressed the council during the citizens-to-be-heard portion of the agenda. The council room was filled to capacity, an unusual occurrence since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
A dozen people spoke against the project, most of them River Road residents. Many of them addressed the slope failures that led to the collapse of a portion of River Road a decade ago and its reconstruction as a single lane road running south. Many worried that moving the roadway there five feet to the west and building the bike path would trigger drainage problems along the bluff that would ultimately undermine the path and the road. Many wanted the path to follow Busha Hwy., also known as M-29, instead of veering east along the St. Clair River.
Eight people spoke in favor of the project, most of them appreciative of the added safety a dedicated bike path would afford riders and walkers. Some argued that home values would increase along the path and more tourist dollars would flow into the city. One person seemed to see both sides of the argument.
Economics
“City administration is looking for direction, either to move forward with this design or basically notify the Michigan Department of Transportation, notify the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and notify the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation that we are no longer interested in receiving the funds for this project,” said City Manager Randy Fernandez, as heard on the recording of the meeting posted to Vimeo.
A lot of money is at stake. Grants from the MDOT and SEMCOG will cover the $795,000 cost of the two sections of trail along River Road and the $363,000 cost of the Davis Road path. The Ralph C. Wilson Foundation and the Community Foundation of St. Clair County pledged match funds of $473,000 for the project.
Fernandez said he had spent much of the last six month exploring the possibility of moving the project to Busha Hwy.
“The answer came back from the three funding sources: No,” said Fernandez. “We came up with a plan to have just a paved shoulder along River Road and down Davis. One of the three funding members said they would not fund the project based on that.”
In short, there are no fundable alternative routes, said Fernandez.
Council questions
Council member Dan Shirkey asked if the drainage issued would be taken care of in the final construction plans.
Yes, said engineer Beyer.
Council member Duke Dunn asked if the slope east of the trail on the one-way section of River Road would be gentle enough to allow residents to mow the lawn and maintain the strip.
Yes, said Beyer.
Council member Dave Barber asked who would be responsible for snow removal from the bike path, the residents or the city? Fernandez didn’t know. He said he would confer with the city attorney and the DPW, which removes snow from the section of the trail that runs along the old Detroit Urban Railroad bed and through Marysville Park.
“This bike path plan started years ago,” said Mayor Kathy Hayman. “We had a different mayor. It might have been two mayors ago. We had a different council. Two council members are extremely new to this.”
Hayman explained that Fernandez did not want residents to be upset.
“He wanted to appease everyone,” Hayman said. But, it didn’t work out. “If we don’t pass this, we give the money back.”
Like many of the path’s opponents, Hayman lives on River Road.
“Safety is our number one concern,” she said. “This is not only for cyclists. This is for walkers, this is for strollers, this is for pet owners and this is for people with disabilities.”
Shirkey made the motion to proceed with the proposed route of the bike trail, which was seconded by member Barber.
The council approved the bike trail 6-1. Council member Dave Watson voted against the project.
Watson said he preferred a six-foot pathway along the east side of the one-way section of River Road, which would avoid having to shift the road to the west to accommodate a 10-foot wide trail.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.