GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- A network of pedestrian and bicycle trails is growing to connect communities across Genesee County.

Work is ahead of schedule on the Genesee Valley Trail that will connect Flint Township to the vast Chevy Commons project taking place at the former Chevy in the Hole, as well as projects in other Genesee County communities that will link to a proposed 774-mile-long bicycling route spanning Michigan, north to south.

Megan Hunter, director of planning and development for the city of Flint, said work on a 1.5-mile stretch of the Genesee Valley Trail by LJ Construction should finish by early August.

"Originally, we didn't think we were going to be able to start this year," said Hunter of the $717,000 project. More than $520,000 comes from the Michigan Department of Transportation and other funding comes from Community Development Block Grant and transportation budgets.

Construction on the trail -- following Corunna Road to the west boundary of the city to Chevrolet Avenue across from Chevy Commons -- started in April. The project is weeks ahead of schedule, Hunter said.

The Genesee Valley Trail currently now goes along Linden Road in Flint Township and veers northeast to Corunna Road.

The paved trail, Hunter said, will connect with pathways at the Chevy Commons site in the form of a trailhead which she called "kind of a fortunate coincidence."

Workers are deep into construction on the first phase at Chevy Commons, with heavy machinery moving bucketsful of composted city yard waste to help form a green cap on the former industrial site where the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 took place.

"The development of this park is to create a safe place for the public to be proud of and appreciate," said Cheryl McHallam, grants manager for the Genesee County Land Bank.

"The residents of the community will be encouraged to walk along the looped paths and enjoy views of the river," she said. Work to still be done includes planting 289 trees, 2,022 shrubs and 13 acres of native grasses at the 60-acre site.

McHallam said some funding is expected to remain from $1.8 million Phase 1 of the project -- $1.6 million is coming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any money left from the first part of the project will be used to begin Phase 2, which will be much of the same work but on the eastern side of the property.

The city surveyed thousands of city residents in crafting Flint's first new master plan since 1960 to come up with the Chevy Commons project, Hunter said.

"The vision for this and the importance of the trails came directly from the feedback of the community," she said. "In a way, this is a vision of re-imaging Flint into a more sustainable place."

The former Chevy in the Hole, Hunter said, "presents an open tablet to try and redevelop on." The hope is the new park will spur economic development, reconnect neighborhoods to downtown Flint "and really making it a vibrant corridor."

Walking along the Flint River Trail, Flint resident Tellis Elliott said it will be nice to have trails for people who may not have access to reliable transportation.

"People that don't have vehicles should have a way to walk if they want to," said Elliott, 25. "So I think it's a good idea."

A runner himself, Elliott said there are not many spaces available for the exercise, so "For distance runners, for those that like to run long distances. That would be a challenge to run from one city to another."

Connections between cities are something the state Department of Natural Resources has been exploring in recent months.

Amy McMillan, director of Genesee County Parks and Recreation, said portions of trails near Flint and in Genesee County are set to hook up with the 774-mile Iron Belle bicycling trail, stretching from Belle Isle in Detroit to Ironwood at western tip of the Upper Peninsula.

One of those connecting sections in Genesee County may come in Atlas Township.

More than $318,000 in grant money from the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission was awarded to Atlas Township for use on a 1.2-mile path along Gale Road, from Hegel Road to Perry Road.

Other possible projects in the Atlas Township area, funded in part by a .125-mill property tax increase approved by voters in 2014, may include connecting the Gale Road path to Perry Road west to meet up with Grand Blanc, east on Perry Road to M-15 (State Road) so any paths built on M-15 can continue into Goodrich or north toward Davison.

Atlas Township Supervisor Shirley Kautman Jones has said the proposed work on Gale Road would "benefit the school-age children of our community, as a safe route to walk/bike to the school campuses of Oaktree (Elementary), middle school and high school."

She added the pathway would also serve "as a future connector to Grand Blanc and Davison townships."

In building the paths, Hunter said it's important for them to be sustainable and fit in with the long-term transportation plans in not just Flint, but all of Genesee County.

"Part of what we hear from the community is they want to see these connections within the community, sometimes parts of the community that have been forgotten," she said. "There are other connections with the Flint River Trail through downtown. I think we're creating great pathways for the future in other ways than just besides cars."