Red Arrow Highway Linear Trail Gets Public Praise

20210819_180842
20210819_180842

An ongoing project to build a linear trail along Red Arrow Highway that would connect New Buffalo and Bridgman is being praised by some Harbor Country residents. Southwest Michigan Planning Commission Senior Planner Marcy Hamilton spoke to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners Thursday about the broader effort to reconstruct Red Arrow Highway in that area, and several members of the public rose to express their appreciation for the Red Arrow Linear Path. Hamilton tells WSJM News they recently completed the trail in the Union Pier area. The work continues.

“They’re going to do a small section of trail that will connect to the community park in Chikaming Township, and those two pieces will be done at the end of this year, and then the next plan is to do all of the engineering and planning for all the gaps between New Buffalo and Bridgman,” Hamilton said.”

As Red Arrow Highway is reduced from four lanes to two travel lanes with a center turn lane, Hamilton says room is freed up for the trail.

“If we don’t do what the road department is doing, reducing the lanes to three with the travel lanes and center turn lane, if we don’t have that, then we don’t have room for the separated path.”

Hamilton says when the trail was first proposed, people were against it, but as it gets completed, they see its benefits. People who spoke at Thursday’s commission meeting said it attracts people to the area and improves safety. The goal is for the whole trail to run from Bridgman to New Buffalo within a few years. It’s maintained by the townships through which it runs.