Summer Heat Got You Down?

Posted on 08/17/2017 by HWPadmin

Summer heat and humidity got you down? Here’s a look back to one of the many Phase 1 (M52& Werkner to Green Lake) walkthroughs last winter, when the temperature was a balmy 10 degrees!

From HWPI board member Erik Stalhandske, who was shivering behind the camera: “Working collaboratively with the Michigan DNR and Stantec Engineering, we were able to mutually address everyone’s concerns and arrive at a mutually satisfactory trail alignment. Through careful value engineering, we have addressed existing environmental features, incorporated natural topographical highlights, and stayed within budget. It is anticipated that groundbreaking for the first stretch of trail will begin in mid to late summer of 2017.”

HWPI board chair, Jeff Hardcastle, anticipates that groundbreaking on Phase 1 may be about eight weeks away!

#hwpathways #b2btrail #karenstrail #midnr #tbt

Posted in Design Engineering, General News, Just For Fun, Michigan DNR, Phase 1 | Comments Off on Summer Heat Got You Down?

Let’s Build Karen’s Trail!

Posted on 08/15/2017 by HWPadmin

We’re excited to announce that Karen’s Trail t-shirts are now available to purchase online! Our work this summer has been focused in large part on making people aware of Karen’s Story and the trail. One way that we have been able to do this is through our Karen’s Trail t-shirts. We hope to get thousands of people wearing Karen’s Trail shirts and sharing our cause.

The shirts are made of performance material, good for visibility. They are $20 each and available for ordering until August 31. Shirts may be shipped directly to you or picked up from Ann Arbor Running Company’s new store in Kerrytown.

Click here to order your own Karen’s Trail t-shirt.

We would really appreciate your help sharing the opportunity to order Karen’s Trail shirts with your community. You can share the order form link above through email or if you are on Facebook, please share our t-shirt post with your friends! The more it is shared, the more community members will hear about Karen’s Trail.

Click here for our Facebook post.

Shirts are only available to order until August 31, so time is of the essence!

Thank you for your support of Karen’s Trail!

Posted in Fundraising, The Karen's Trail Fund | Comments Off on Let’s Build Karen’s Trail!

HWPI’s New Fiscal Sponsor – Michigan Fitness Foundation

Posted on 07/07/2017 by HWPadmin

The Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative (HWPI), partnered with the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission (WCPARC), has expanded our role to be the primary fundraising organization supporting the completion of the Border-to-Border Trail System throughout Washtenaw County. HWPI’s long term goal is now to raise approximately $20 million in private funding within five years.

At our inception about two-and-a-half years ago, HWPI’s focus was to connect Chelsea and Dexter with a safe, family-friendly non-motorized pathway. Legacy Land Conservancy, an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit organization founded in 1971, agreed to be our fiscal sponsor. Through this relationship, charitable contributions to HWPI would be tax deductible, and our supporters would have peace of mind knowing that their donations were being handled by a nonprofit with a proven record of more than forty-five years.

With HWPI’s expanded role, we mutually agreed with Legacy Land Conservancy to search for a new fiscal sponsor. HWPI has now entered into an agreement with the nonprofit Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) to serve as our new fiscal sponsor. As a result, all charitable contributions to HWPI continue to be fully tax deductible.

The folks of HWPI greatly appreciate the excellent services Legacy Land Conservancy provided us over the past two-and-a-half years. We encourage everyone to support the marvelous work Legacy does with land preservation throughout our region. We are also excited to open a new chapter with the Michigan Fitness Foundation, as they expand services to support development of Michigan’s statewide Iron Belle Trail System and associated regional trails.

Tax-deductible contributions to HWPI can be made online or mailed in through the Donate page on the Huron Waterloo Pathways website.

Posted in Border-to-Border Trail, Fundraising, General News | Comments Off on HWPI’s New Fiscal Sponsor – Michigan Fitness Foundation

Healthy :: Active :: Connected

Posted on 06/27/2017 by HWPadmin

Concerns about the Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative’s (HWPI) efforts to connect the Chelsea and Dexter communities with a paved, non-motorized trail have been in the local news and letter-to-the-editor pages lately. Consistent with HWPI’s values of promoting healthy, active, and connected communities through safe multi-use trails, our volunteers are sitting down with property owners to address their individual concerns. We are working toward positive, win-win situations with our neighbors and community members, in the pursuit of safe pathways for all ages.

HWPI volunteers live and work in the communities we want to connect with safe, multi-use pathways. Many of us are your friends, neighbors, and maybe even your family members. Most of us are parents and some of us are blessed to be grandparents. Through the generosity of our supporters and many local businesses and organizations, we hope the results of our efforts will add value to our shared communities and be enjoyed by current and future generations.

If you have comments, concerns, suggestions, or a desire to help with HWPI’s efforts, please contact one of us directly. We would love to hear from you.

Posted in Connecting Neighborhoods, General News | Comments Off on Healthy :: Active :: Connected

Major Milestone – Docs Submitted for New Trail Construction

Posted on 06/22/2017 by HWPadmin

HWPI’s effort to get the B2B Chelsea-Lakelands Connector Phase One new trail construction underway passed a major milestone this week. The final submission of documents to MDOT was completed, including the legal agreements, design specs, easements, and environmental permits necessary to begin construction.

Design of this new 2.6 mile segment of paved trail has been underway for 16 months, at an engineering cost of about $265,000, funded by private donations to HWPI. This new trail segment will start at the new M52-Werkner Road roundabout, travel north along the west side of M52, and reach the Green Lake campground entrance, including a connector to the DTE Energy Foundation Trail. This new trail segment will be built entirely on state land, using road easement and MDNR property in the Waterloo State Recreation Area.

Construction of this trail will be directed by MDOT, with support from the Washtenaw County Road Commission. The completed trail will be operated and maintained by the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission as part of the Border-2-Border Trail system.

Next, MDOT will place the project for Bid, which should take place in 8 to 10 weeks. Weather dependent, construction should begin either later this fall or early spring of 2018. HWPI and our partners are confident this trail section will be open for use by midsummer, 2018.

#hwpathways #b2btrail #karenstrail #wcparc #midnr #mitrails
#trails #walk #run #hike #bike #fun #outdoors
#healthy #active #connected

Posted in Border-to-Border Trail, General News, Michigan DNR, Michigan DOT, Milestone, Pathway | Comments Off on Major Milestone – Docs Submitted for New Trail Construction