Ypsilanti Township to receive $763K federal grant for Grove Road non-motorized trail
Ypsilanti Township is set to receive a $763,000 grant to help fund a project that will expand the Grove Road non-motorized trail, the Ypsilanti Courier reported.
Grove Road's non-motorized trail will be reconstructed.
Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com
Officials told the Courier if the township gains the necessary easements from nearby property owners, the current Grove Road trail from Georgina Street to Woodale Avenue will be widened to 10 feet. A new area, from Woodale to Rawsonville Road, will be constructed as part of the trail.
In addition to the trail, Grove Road will be repaved this year after the Ypsilanti Township trustees and Ypsilanti City Council signed an intergovernmental agreement.
The Grove Road repavement is estimated to cost $571,000, of which the city is responsible for $219,000 and Ypsilanti Township will pay $352,000.The project will be completed in the spring of 2013.
Comments
Matthew Albert
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 7:01 p.m.
Awesome! I use this trail frequently to commute and ride for fun. It's good to see it's getting a much needed overhaul, it makes no sense to have existing infrastructure like this fall into disrepair. I for one, fully support this.
murph
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 6:25 p.m.
Not everyone owns (or can afford) a car -- glad to see Ypsilanti Township supporting safe transportation options for *all* of their residents!
Mike
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.
Great use of our tax dollars while our infrastructure crumbles around us. The insanity continues to head for the cliff..................
Matthew Albert
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 7:05 p.m.
This is infrastructure. Existing, presumably expensive, infrastructure that is already 'crumbling around us'. I use the B2B trail (both Ann Arbor and Ypsi segments) to commute nearly every day of the year.
Bob Krzewinski
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 4:43 a.m.
It looks like a little education is needed. The grant the Township is receiving comes from the federal government Transportation Alternatives Program, passed by the U.S. Congress. It states that 2% of federal highway funding be used for "transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, recreational trail program projects, and safe routes to school projects". In other words, the money Ypsi Township received for this project cannot, by law, be used for any other purpose other than the uses in the Transportation Alternatives program. There is no "diverting" of funds. Projects like what is proposed in Ypsi Township are what the TA fund was created for. Oh, and guess what. If Ypsi Township did not get the funds, they would just be used by some other city somewhere else in the U.S.
RUKiddingMe
Sun, Feb 24, 2013 : 1:55 p.m.
Two of the most often used justifications/rationalizations that lead to the incredible waste of dollars: 1) If we don't use it, someone else sure will 2) Compared to all the other waste, this is just a drop in the bucket
Matthew Albert
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 7:20 p.m.
I agree with Bob. This is not 'new' infrastructure, it is maintenance and improvement of existing infrastructure. It makes no sense to let such an awesome trail crumble to the point it's no longer usable. This is not a 'stupid' use of money, it's a small investment in Ypsi's future. Of the total federal budget of ~3.5 TRILLION, 763 thousand is pretty paltry. (2.17e-7 percent, if you're curious)
Mike
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:22 p.m.
Guess what...........if we just quit spending money on stupid programs and quit saying "if we don't take it someone else will" we might have a chance of not having the whole country end up like Detroit and Greece. Higher taxes for everyone.........................
Thomas
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 12:55 p.m.
"Pointless"? I use this trail all the time to either run, walk, or take the dog for a walk and yes there are parts of this trail that are in very bad shape and in need of repair. If you don't live in the community then shut your trap and move on.
Angry Moderate
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 8:52 a.m.
Like Ann Arbor's "buckets" of money, the law doesn't HAVE to be setup that way, so let's not act like it's a foregone conclusion. Also, I would be just fine with having the money go to a worthwhile project somewhere else instead of a pointless project in Ypsi.
Cuzin J
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:13 a.m.
I hope someone wins a Federal Grant to fix the motorized street on Grove Road in front of Rite Aide. The street is horrible. I leve close and drive it everyday. Must spend money wisely.
murph
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 6:15 p.m.
If you read to the end of the article, you'll see that the section in front of Grove Road by the Rite Aide *IS* being repaved this year.
llspier
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:59 a.m.
If you read the larger article, you find out that this is Federal transportation money bring diverted to bike trails. If these funds were actually earmarked for the roads like fuel tax payers think they are, there would likely be less need for Lansing to be trying to devise ways to tax us more just to fix the roads. And Lansing is guilty of this diversion of road funding as well.The dirty little secret here is car drivers are paying for bike paths-car drivers from some of the lowest income sectors in Michigan: the rural working poor. Just so some higher-income areas can have bike paths that make them 'feel good'. It's time to cut off the welfare to the well-to-do . . .because the working poor are tapped out! Something seriously wrong with that kind of thinking!
brian
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 1:47 a.m.
What a waste of money.
Kafkaland
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 12:48 a.m.
Whenever I hear Grove St. / Rd. in Ypsilanti, I'm somehow reminded of Grove St. (The Grove) on GTA III. Am I the only one?
RUKiddingMe
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 12:09 a.m.
And Ann Arbor (reportedly) gets 2.8 million just to DESIGN a train station we are far from needing. 2 of many projects, in 2 of many towns, in one of many counties, in 50 states. The waste is absolutely mindboggling.
YpsiGirl4Ever
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:45 p.m.
Who are these people making some of the comments above? Ypsilanti Township as the article stated pretty clearly in the title, won a federal GRANT for the non-motorized trail! No taxes increases were allocated for this project to go forward. Good job Y-Town Governmental Officials!
GoNavy
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:50 p.m.
Have you taken civics yet? Do you know where the money for Federal grants comes from? Hint: It comes from taxpayers.
Ryan Bowles
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:14 p.m.
I have ridden the current trail several times, and it's too narrow and not in good shape. Great to see it's getting fixed.
tom swift jr.
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:01 p.m.
How are they going to maintain the safety of people walking this path? Is it lighted, is it patrolled? This is NOT a good idea and a tremendous waste of money.
GoNavy
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 10:35 p.m.
Ask yourself: Is this trail important enough to put our children in debt for it?
justcurious
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 10:26 p.m.
Money for fluff in hard times. Par for the course.