Funding Secured for Peninsula Township Multimodal and Non-Motorized Trail Study

(Editor’s Note: Todd Wilson, who is part of Peninsula Township’s Non-Motorized Trail Working Group, reports that funding has been secured to move forward with an action plan study. Read on for Todd’s note. -jb)

As Peninsula Township prepares to begin a survey for its current Master Plan update, generous grant funding has been acquired for the most popular Master Plan goal identified in the last survey completed in 2019.

Amongst the survey questions asked by the 2019-2021 Master Plan Committee (a group of citizens, Planning Commission members and Township staff) was one gauged to determine community support for providing safer roadways and off-road trails — i.e. should we improve shared use conditions for bikers, pedestrians, farm equipment and autos (all users)?

This question had nearly 80 percent support among survey responders and has been a Township trustee and non-motorized working group priority for nearly five years. Now, through their efforts (and Susie Shipman’s repeated grant requests), Peninsula Township has been awarded $15,000 from the DALMAC Fund, and more recently, an additional $51,000 from The Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

These awards, combined with the $8,000 already allocated to non-motorized planning by the Township Board, will provide for consulting from an experienced small town and rural multimodal roadway planning agency to assist in development of an action plan. 

The planning process will address Peninsula Township’s long-term goal of pursuing consensus-based improvements to established roadways, as well as other off-road options, where feasible. Enhanced safety and improved connections within the township and to the greater regional non-motorized network will also be explored. 

The key factor is building knowledge-based community support through several open forums. Only in this way can a successful action plan be created. 

Some of the improvements to be considered are provided in a document entitled “Small Town and Rural Multimodal Networks,” which you can read here.

Kudos to our Peninsula Township representatives, staff and volunteers.

-Todd Wilson

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