Politics & Government
Township Seeks Bids for $950,000 Pathway to Northville
Northville Township is acting as construction manager in a venture with the city of Northville and Wayne County in creating a paved nature trail along Sheldon Road, up to Seven Mile Road.
Northville Township officials are requesting bids on a planned nature trail along Sheldon Road that will connect the township with a paved pathway to the city of Northville.
The 8-foot-wide pathway will run along the east side of Sheldon, from Verona Lane at the south end and through the Hines Drive Bennett Arboretum wooded area, north to Seven Mile Road.
The project is being funded by a $450,000 grant from Wayne County’s Rouge Project Office and a $500,000 grant from Wayne County. The city and the township will split the costs for any additional needed funds for the path, dubbed the Bennett Arboretum Pathway.
Find out what's happening in Northvillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Jill Rickard, civil engineer for the township, held a meeting Thursday night to discuss the new walkway. Basically, the project will comprise the pathway and some environmental projects that will mirror the environmental flow of the arboretum area.
The environmental projects include a sloped wall that will include native plantings in concrete compartments, extra trees and an entrance that will be paved with permeable concrete, a looser path material that will let water drain through it.
Find out what's happening in Northvillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A long boardwalk will be installed along a wetland area, and a bridge will cross over Johnson Creek, one of the area’s most pristine waterways and home to brown trout.
Rickard said the path will include information signs that describe how trees act as a much better sponge for rainwater than roofs and parking lots and how the native plants live much easier with the Michigan soil and weather.
She said the township's Department of Public Services will accept the bids and then make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees at a scheduled meeting, likely May 19.
“We hope to start the project in June and finish by September,” Rickard said. “We’re not sure yet how much more the entire project will cost, outside of the grant funds.”
Resident David Duffield, a member of the League of Michigan Bicyclists and the Friends of the I-275 Pathway, said he would like to see a path that would connect the township with its northern neighbor.
“It’s great to see a way to open up the city-township link in a nonmotorized fashion,” Duffield said.
The township will soon have a presentation on its website detailing the plans for the path. Currently, a map of the path can be viewed here.
