Plans are still flowing for Traverse City becoming the next spot for a water trail.
Thursday night, Traverse City Parks and Recreation Commissioners voted unanimously.
All showing their support to bring a marked paddling route to the Boardman River.
“There’s a lot of talk about couldn’t we have one here in Traverse City,” said Harry Burkholder, executive director for Land Information Access Association.
There are a lot of things that Traverse City has, but a water trail isn’t one of them just yet.
“Right now we have so many people on the river that we think this is a great way to talk about the value of the river and how we can maintain it and keep it in kind of a more natural state and respect it; and it’s also an opportunity to really leverage Traverse City as a place,” said Burkholder.
The Land Information Access Association has been working to make this a reality for quite some time.
Phase one of the project would start at the YMCA on South Airport Road and end at Clinch Park.
“Kind of the first steps what we hope to do is do some universal signage that lets people aware that there’s actually a water trail here and when we do that we can provide signage that talks about the history, how to be safe in the river and really kind of dictate or talk about the behavior that we want to see on the river,” said Burkholder.
And one business that’s really excited about the new development is Paddle For Pints.
“Having this waterway in our town would be I think a really cool thing because it would bring more focus to keeping this waterway a lot cleaner,” said Miles Prendergast, manager for Paddle For Pints. “I really do believe that all the signage that is being proposed would really help promote safety on the river and help guide people to just I guess traverse this water.”
The association will continue working with Grand Traverse County, Traverse City and Garfield Township for final approval
“We’d like to see it by the end of fall if possible but really we’re working at a pace that’s comfortable with the three jurisdictions,” said Burkholder.
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