After almost a year of planning, The Villages Community Development Corp. GREEN Task Force is near completion of a greenways plan that takes in the territory that stretches from the Dequindre Cut to the city's eastern boundary and from the Detroit River to Mack. One of the last steps remaining before the release of a final set of route recommendations is a public open house, which will be held on March 5 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Northeast Activities Center, 2900 Conner Ave. "We hope to have participants provide us with feedback on routes," says Sheu-Jane Gallagher, one of the coordinators of the planning process.
The Beaufait Greenway has been identified as a key route in the greenways network, and has made some first steps towards implementation. This route will run from the Detroit River to Gratiot on an abandoned rail corridor that is situated east of Mt. Elliott. A visioning meeting for this specific greenway is being held on March 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. at
Gleaners, the organization that is spearheading the process.
Implementation for the remainder of the greenways network will be determined by the availability of funding, says Gallagher. "We want to be clear that we only have funding for the planning process...our next step is to pursue funding opportunities," she says. Other routes recognized in the network plan include the Conner Creek Greenway and E. Jefferson, a key travel route for which
Complete Streets treatment -- as opposed to greenway construction -- is being recommended.
Gallagher says the most gratifying aspect of the planning process has been wide-spread buy-in from the community. "There has been overwhelmingly strong support for bringing more greenways to the district," she says. "It's one of the highest compliments and the best experience for me out of this whole process."
RSVP for the GREEN Task Force meeting by March 3 to 313-444-0062 or
[email protected]. For more details on the planning process, visit
TheVillagesofDetroit.com/greenways.
Source: Sheu-Jane Gallagher, The Villages CDC
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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