YPSILANTI, MI – Ypsilanti officials are gearing up for a $3.3 million project to develop a safe pedestrian and bicycle pathway over I-94 at Huron Street.

Construction of the shared-use path is planned for 2022 and the city is now seeking additional state funding.

City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, March 17, to apply to the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund for a $300,000 grant for the Huron Pathway Project.

“Such a pathway would not only provide a safe path for people to get to and from places of employment or to shopping, but also to recreational resources, such as North Bay Park and the anticipated bike lanes on Hamilton/Huron that in turn connect to the Border-to-Border Trail,” Projects Manager Bonnie Wessler wrote in a memo to council.

The city has been working with the Michigan Department of Transportation, Ypsilanti Township, Washtenaw Area Transportation Study, Washtenaw County Road Commission and state Rep. Ronnie Peterson, D-Ypsilanti Township, for more than a decade on the project, Wessler said.

The state approved a grant for design last year and a subsequent grant for construction was conditionally approved, but a 20% local match is still required for each phase.

“The construction match is anticipated to be 20% of approximately $3.3 million dollars, or about $660,000,” Wessler wrote. “We are applying for $300,000, the maximum award, from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to help provide that match towards construction.”

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The city also is working with other partners, including the county parks and recreation commission and private donors, to cover the remaining balance, and the city expects to contribute $30,000 to the project in fiscal year 2021-22.

The project entails adding a 10- to 12-foot-wide path with a hard barrier on the outside, pedestrian signals, a reconfigured southwest on-ramp and better sidewalk connections.

I-94 does not have a safe pedestrian/bicycle crossing at or near Huron Street right now, city officials say, and that’s a barrier between Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. It also prevents township residents from walking/biking to downtown, Depot Town and Eastern Michigan University and blocks access to the Border-to-Border Trail from south of Ford Lake.

Establishing that link is a priority called out in Ypsilanti’s Master Plan, Non-motorized Plan and recently adopted Parks and Recreation Master Plan.

Council also OK’d a contract Tuesday for improvements at Rutherford Pool and adjusted the budget to support operational management of the historic Ypsilanti Freighthouse.

There are 22 events booked at the freighthouse between April 1 and June 30 and the city wishes to honor those commitments and continue taking reservations using an existing fee schedule adopted by the Friends of the Freighthouse.

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