A $1.55 million dollar grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Fund along with funding for renovations to Lighthouse Park and a trails maintenance grant from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan will boost efforts to complete the Bridge to Bay (B2B) Trail system in St. Clair County.
A coalition of local stakeholders including the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, St. Clair County Parks & Recreation, St. Clair County Metropolitan Planning Commission, Friends of the St. Clair River and several local municipalities have been working together since 2018 to address the major remaining gaps in the B2B Trail.
Randy Maiers, president & CEO of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, which is the fiduciary of the grant funding, said, “This is a tremendous boost to our regional efforts. Both our Blue Meets Green coalition and our Community Foundation recognize the Bridge to Bay Trail system as one of the critical projects our region needs to complete.”
The funding will activate Phase One of the project which includes closing key trail gaps in St. Clair, Marysville, and Port Huron. A new pedestrian bridge over the Black River Canal is an exciting feature of Phase One which will connect Port Huron Northern High School and Holland Woods Middle School. New trails in St. Clair and Marysville will connect existing trails to commercial areas in those cities and to trails in other communities.
The Bridge to Bay Trail project has been a key initiative for the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation because it encourages recreation and increases the walk-ability and bike-ability of local communities.
J.J. Tighe, Director of Parks & Trails Initiative for the Foundation said, “Parks and trails add greatly to the quality of life in a community.”
Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand
