When will work begin and who is paying for it?
The waterfront along West Grand Traverse Bay has come a long way, from heavy industry to open space. We've told you about big plans to re-develop the bay front. But a viewer called saying it had been a while since he'd heard anything about the project. So where does it stand today? When will work begin and who is paying for it?
The answers are tonight's fact finder report.
There are big plans to overhaul the waterfront along west Grand Traverse Bay and a big price tag.
Traverse City Planner Russ Soyring says, "$26 million. But we've done it in such a way you can do sections and pieces of the waterfront and not have to do it all at once."
Starting next year crews could begin construction on the first three projects.
One is to extend a pave trail along the shoreline 1,100 feet from Division Street to near Elmwood, and then add a mid-block crosswalk across Grandview Parkway to the Tart Trail along Bay Street. The price tag? About $200,000.
The second is a tunnel under Grandview Parkway near the open space. Planners say this was a big request from the public. It will be built in conjunction with a new hotel in the warehouse district which will help with excavation, but the price tag still comes in at about a million dollars.
The third project is to make the area near Clinch Park more family friendly and universally accessible. There will be a splash pad, a play area, a wheelchair accessible small boat launch, and a special mat so people in wheelchairs can go on the sand. This project adds up to about $900,000.
Soyring says, "They are all kind of costly, but we think if they enhance the area and make it so more people can enjoy it, we think it's worth the investment."
He says they've applied for a series of federal and state transportation and natural resources grants to cover the cost. Planners are hoping to use these alternative funding sources to help get the ball rolling, then hope the momentum will help carry public support if planners need to turn to more local funding sources like Brownbridge Trust Fund money.
But Soyring says it's no longer a question of if to proceed, but how. "The amount of people using our waterfront demands a change in the way we design our waterfront. This is not just a city park this is a park of statewide importance if not Midwest importance."
What do you think about the project? How would you fund it? Where should work begin? Leave your comments below.
The Parks and Recreation Commission is overseeing this project and you are welcome to be in on the process. The commission is meeting to discuss the plans tomorrow at 6:30 at the governmental center. Click here to read the the official Bayfront plan.
