Chelsea’s New B2B Section Could Break Ground This Fall

By Doug Marrin, STN Reporter

A growing number of outdoor enthusiasts are enjoying scenic recreation on Washtenaw County’s Border-to-Border Trail (B2B). The newest section of the popular trail is planned to connect the City of Chelsea with 4.8 miles of existing trail. A fundraiser is underway to finance the effort.

“This connection into town will be big because there’s parking at both Veterans Park and Timber Town,” says Jeff Hardcastle, Board President of Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative (HWPI). “Once completed, folks from within the city can get right onto the trail without ever leaving the city streets.”

I caught up with Jeff at the beautiful new statue on the B2B, “Dedicated to the Women Leaders of Michigan,” to hear more about the trail and its current fundraising effort for the segment into Chelsea.

HWPI Board President, Jeff Hardcastle.

HWPI is a non-profit organization developing the area’s network of non-motorized recreational pathways. HWPI’s primary project is the development of the B2B. The B2B was conceived in the 1990s by Washtenaw County Parks & Rec as a trail extending from one end of the county to the other, connecting the communities along the way.

“For the first ten years, Parks and Rec focused on a route from Dexter to Ann Arbor,” said Jeff. “The heart of the Border-to-Border Trail has always been the Huron River Greenway from Dexter to Ann Arbor.”

The original plan was for the B2B to go north out of Dexter to Hudson Mills Metropark and then to the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park in Pinckney. The stretch from Dexter to Hudson Mills was constructed in 2013. Engineering for the segment from Hudson Mills to Pinckney has presented a challenge.

See article: A proposed Northwest Passage through Dexter Township

Meanwhile, Jeff had formed a group working to develop a connecting pathway between Chelsea and Dexter. They began raising money, applied for, and received a federal grant to start building their trail. Parks and Rec learned what the group was doing, talks ensued, and the two entities joined forces in 2017. HWPI was formed as a private enterprise to help the county accelerate the construction of its county-wide trail.

Map showing the route of the new section beginning at Veterans Park in Chelsea and ending at Werkner Rd. Image courtesy of HWPI.

“What we found is that if you’ve got a private entity involved in fundraising, it can go a lot faster,” said Jeff. “Parks and Rec has a lot of millage money. But on their own, they can only do one segment every three years. Since we joined forces, we’ve been doing two or three segments every year now for three years, and we should be able to keep that up and get the whole thing finished.”

Official plans for the B2B were changed to have it come through Chelsea and up M-52 to the county line, where Ingham County plans on taking it into Stockbridge and the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail. The change in route provided several advantages:

1. Another community, Chelsea, is now connected via a pathway.
2. A lot of DNR property is along the M-52 corridor. The DNR is amenable to the trail development.
3. The easements along M-52 are as wide as 120 feet in places.

Also, once construction began, crews found the old M-92 roadbed still in place, and it was used for stretches of the trail. M-92 was constructed in 1919 and replaced by M-52 in 1962.

The stirring and contemplative “Dedicated to the Women Leaders of Michigan” overlooks Green Lake from her place alongside the B2B north of Chelsea.

HWPI’s fundraiser is for the new section of B2B, beginning at Veterans Park, winding through Timbertown, and continuing one mile north. This new section of trail will lead directly to downtown Chelsea. The trailhead at Timbertown features extensive parking, restrooms, picnic pavilions, and a play area.

“HWPI is responsible for funding over 40% of the new segment,” explained Jeff. “We got a 50/50 matching grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. One stipulation of the grant, however, is that it has to be a community effort. They won’t accept a donor writing one big check to cover it. There’s a limit to the size of individual contributions they’ll match.”

The goal is to raise $50,000. As of this writing, $32,175 has been raised from 126 supporters. The deadline for the grant is Sept. 15.

With successful funding, construction for the new segment is expected to start this fall.

To donate online, visit patronicity.com/b2btrail

Or, mail a check payable to HWPI to HWPI, 14800 E Old US 12, Chelsea, MI, 48118

All photos by Doug Marrin unless otherwise indicated.