Construction to begin this summer on Barker Road Trail in Whitmore Lake

Northfield Township officials are finalizing plans for a trail along Barker Road and expect construction to begin with the start of summer.The township received a $120,000 grant from the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Dept. to build the first of three phases of the 8-foot-wide trail between Whitmore Lake Elementary School and downtown Whitmore Lake.”We’ve had really widespread community support for this,” says Deb Mozurkowich, supervisor of Northfield Township. “It has had a really positive reception here.”The three-phase project will be put into place over the next three years. The first phase calls for building the westernmost third of the trail, that connects to Whitmore Lake Elementary. The second phase will be third between downtown and U.S. 23. The third phase will fill in the space between those two trail sections.The idea is to connect nearby neighborhoods, downtown and the school so pedestrians, bicyclists and other users of alternative transportation methods can safely travel, apart from automobile traffic. There will also be 260 feet of boardwalk over some local wetlands. Local officials hope to extend the trail to downtown, the township hall and the library. They also see connecting it to the Lakelands Trail and one day to a trail network that expects to connect both the eastern and western borders of Michigan.Source: Deb Mozurkowich, supervisor of Northfield TownshipWriter: Jon Zemke