TRIAL PROJECT COULD LEAD TO A CONTINUOUS TRAIL FROM MISHAWAKA TO BERRIEN SPRINGS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

BERRIEN SPRINGS – With the completion of the Niles section of the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail expected later this year, people are now looking at expanding the trail northward toward Berrien Springs.

Work connecting the southern Niles Township section of the trail up to the Niles City section will be finishing up in coming months. That means there will soon be a continuous trail from Mishawaka through South Bend and north into Niles. The trail will now end at the northern Niles city limits in Plym Park.

Representatives from the Be Healthy Berrien organization and the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission presented their plans to the Berrien Township Board last week. They will be sharing the project plans with the public at three upcoming meetings in both Niles and Berrien Springs.

Be Healthy Berrien Director Heather Cole said a series of community open houses are being planned for Niles and Berrien Springs. The first will be held May 7 from 4-6 p.m. at the Niles YMCA. A second open house will be held later in Berrien Springs with a third set featuring preliminary plans held in both towns.

As currently envisioned, the trail will run north from Plym Park on the north side of Niles to Berrien Springs along the old interurban right-of-way. Most of that right-of-way is now owned by American Electric Power and is parallel to and west of M-139 headed toward Berrien Springs.

Cole said preliminary planning this year is being paid for out of a $90,000 state grant her organization has received. She said she expects to get a similar amount from the state for the next three to four years to continue the planning process.

SMPC Planner Marcy Hamilton noted that people have dreamed about extending the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail northward for at least 20 years. This year, the final section of trail in southern Niles Township will be done which means there will now be a continuous trail from Mishawaka through South Bend and now the Niles area.

“There will now be a continuous trail from the Niles YMCA to the stateline and beyond,” she said. “It’s used extensively and we’re really excited to secure this grant. We’ve always talked about going north to Berrien Springs for at least 20 years.”

She said AEP owns an estimated seven of the nine mile stretch with the city of Niles and Niles Township owning at least part of the remaining miles. The section owned by AEP ends at Range Line Park in Berrien Township.

Hamilton said Niles area leaders are currently looking at ways to connect the existing trail that ends in Plym Park to the AEP right-of-way. “It’s still to be determined where it will cross M-139 north of Niles,” she said.

Cole and Hamilton said people have already caught the vision of what the trail could be like and how it can be extended into Berrien Springs and beyond. Some, including those attending a regional summit at Andrews in February, have even talked about building a pedestrian bridge across Lake Chapin using the concrete pillars that are there, they said.

Hamilton encouraged Berrien Township officials to start thinking about what they could contribute to the project in terms of local matches for future grants. She said they will likely be applying for both Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and Michigan Department of Transportation grants in the future.

“Trail projects take a long time and are expensive,” she said. “The good thing is that the DNR and MDOT are interested in funding trail projects that connect to bigger systems. With this project, you can expect it to cost between $500,000 and $1 million a mile.”

Hamilton noted that government leaders are often skeptical about trail projects at first until they see how popular they are. “We have bikers and walkers using the existing trail sections and have people contacting us from as far away as Chicago asking if the trail is done,” she said.

She said while municipalities can apply for up to $300,000 a year from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund, there is no limit to the amount MDOT could potentially award to the project. “A project like has to be done in phases,” she said. “Once we get to the point of getting costs and preliminary concepts, we can figure out the phases.”