First portion of Conner Creek Greenway opens

A 1 1/2-mile segment of the Conner Creek Greenway opened Friday, Aug. 4 on Detroit’s East Side. The completed greenway will be a 9-mile urban trail that runs along the historical site of Conner Creek from 8 Mile Road to the Detroit River.

Conner Creek Greenway’s debut section is the first portion of a greenway to open in Detroit.  The Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative developed the project and was assisted with funding from the GreenWays Initiative. It begins at Conner Playfield Park at Harper Ave. and Conner and ends just north of Gratiot on the perimeter of Detroit City Airport. The 8-foot-wide greenway follows alongside Conner Avenue for most of the planned trail.

The first completed segment’s cost was $1.7 million.  Additional segments of the greenway will continue as funding becomes available. The Michigan Department of Transportation provided 80 percent of the funding for the project, with the rest to be acquired by the Greenways Initiative.  The entire Conner Creek Greenway is expected to be completed in 3 to 5 years.

“The greenway will provide a physical, as well as spiritual, link between the diverse neighborhoods that the greenway will cross through. … Also the greenway provides a safe route for children going to school, neighborhood pride, recreation and the adaptation of a healthier lifestyle,” says project director Henry Guthard of the DECC.

Sources: Henry Guthard, Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative, Anne Weekley, Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, Tom Woiwode, Greenways Initiative