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Sunrise Coastal Trail planning continues

News photo by Crystal Nelson The North Eastern State Trail’s trailhead is pictured on Thursday. The trailhead will connect with the proposed Sunrise Coastal Trail, which will link to the Iron Belle Trail in Iosco County.

ALPENA — The initial planning for the Sunrise Coastal Trail, a proposed non-motorized trail to connect Alpena to Oscoda, is now in its final phase.

The proposed trail is still a long ways from completion or even design.

Representatives from the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments spent the past nearly five months working with local government officials to develop a plan for the optimal route of the proposed trail. Surveys were conducted to figure out who would use the proposed trail and government officials provided feedback on which routes would be best.

“The point of the project was to bring partners together to talk about the potential of the trail and what that trail would look like and come up with some general routing and some general cost estimates,” Emily Meyerson, a planner working for NEMCOG, said.

Meyerson said officials are now conducting another survey to determine which community partners would be the best to own and manage the trail. The survey also asks whether local tax dollars should go toward the development and use of the trail.

Once Meyerson receives the survey results, she will compile the information in a document which will include the preferred route, alternate routes, as well as what action is recommended. She said local support will be needed if the trail is to come to fruition. She said communities could tackle portions of the trail independently.

“It’s a lot easier to build five or six miles of a trail when it fits into a 45-mile vision — it’s easier to get funding and things like that,” she said. “But it’s still a ways out to actually build a trail. This is very preliminary planning before you would even get to a preliminary design, which would be your next phase.”

Meyerson said the results of the first survey showed the trail would be used primarily by residents and then by visitors or tourists. She said those utilizing the path would travel to parks and towns rather than to schools and neighborhoods.

Meyerson said more than 40% of those surveyed already ride their bicycles in the corridor, which was more than she expected. Meyerson said respondents who currently don’t ride their bikes were concerned about distracted drivers and felt the trail would be safer than the highway.

She said one of the things brought up during discussions of the trail was the uniqueness of Squaw Bay and that it would be a desirable location for a trail.

The plan was paid for by a grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Coastal Zone Management Program.

NEMCOG will provide a $15,000 match in kind.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.

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