West Bloomfield Trail Project Began with Abandoned Rail Line

Saturday's dedication of the West Bloomfield Trail extension from Arrowhead Road to Haggerty caps a 25-year effort to transform an abandoned railroad right of way in West Bloomfield Township.  

After the township Parks and Recreation Commission officially opened the 2.7-mile extension, attendees walked the trail that now stretches all across West Bloomfield Township. 

The original 4.25 mile section of the Trail, an abandoned Grand Trunk Western Railroad right-of-way from Arrowhead Road to the City of Sylvan Lake, was purchased in 1989 and opened in June, 1993. Even at the time, the Commission has identified the additional 2.7 mile section as an acquisition they would like to make.

That section, known as the Coe Trail, remained active until 2008 as the Michigan Airline Railway and was home to a popular dinner train, the Star Clipper. The Commission received grants from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Michigan Department of Transportation (through the Road Commission of Oakland County) to cover about 70 percent of the acquisition costs. 

In December, 2010, the Commission was awarded two more development grants from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Michigan Department of Transportation (through the Road Commission of Oakland County) to develop the new trail. The Commission began the design and engineering of the trail in the spring of 2011 and construction was completed in December, 2012. 

The West Bloomfield Trail extension includes a limestone chip trail surface similar to the existing trail and amenities like universal accessible signage, benches, safe road crossings, landscaping and boardwalks where needed.  The trail features some of the largest wetland marshes and upland woodlands in this region of Michigan.   

Source: West Bloomfield Township Parks and Recreation Commission press release