Error processing SSI file
Oz Forrester of Birmingham, a retired General Motors Corp. engineer with his wife, Linda, walks the River Rouge Trail about three times a week. He hopes a city-backed study of the corridor brings more visibility to the trail.Birmingham promotes path
The Rouge River Trail is considered hidden treasure; the community hopes to create master plan for it.
Linda and Oz Forrester check out some mushrooms along the Rouge River Trail, which stretches 1.25 miles in Birmingham.
Comment on this story
BIRMINGHAM -- There's a little piece of northern Michigan living in the heart of Birmingham, complete with a trail, wildlife and the river that few people are aware of. That's about to change.
City officials have hired M.C. Smith Associates and Architectural Group of East Grand Rapids to help develop a trail corridor master plan to help better promote one of the city's hidden treasures: the Rouge River Trail that stretches 1.25 miles from Booth Park past Linden Park to Fairway Drive.
"If you walk that trail, you think you're up north," said Bob Fox, assistant director of public service for Birmingham. "But it is right smack in the heart of the community and traverses almost from the northeast to the southwest, making the trail reachable by a lot of people. And since we are called a walkable community, it just makes sense for us to give some attention to it and bring it to light so people can utilize it more often."
The Rouge River Trail corridor was identified as a high priority in the city's 2000-05 recreation master plan also in part because of all the improvements made by volunteers along the mostly city-owned land.
Birmingham has worked in conjunction with the Friends of the Rouge River to remove invasive species of trees, shrubs and plants in the corridor region.
Stream bank restoration projects have also been conducted and are under way in sections of the corridor such as Fairway Park. Now officials hope to develop a master plan in such a way that it links neighborhoods within the community and connects to the downtown area as well as other parts of the city, Fox said.
As a result, M.C. Smith Associates set up community input sessions this week and will also gather feedback Thursday, Oct. 6, from residents to determine what enhancements along the trail they'd like to see. The trail starts near the southwest corner of Booth Park near Harmon and Old Woodward.
Resident Oz Forrester, a retired General Motors Corp. engineer who walks the Rouge corridor about three times a week, said he hopes the study brings more visibility to the trail.
"It's a nice connected corridor that goes almost through the entire city, making it a great place to hike," he said. "But it would be nice if there was some signage about it so that it could be even better-used by residents."
One appeal of the Rouge River Trail is that unlike most parks in Birmingham that tend to cater to children with playground areas and athletic fields, the trail corridor appeals to all age groups.
"You can walk, run, and I suppose people could even ride their bikes on the trail if they don't mind the wood chips. Plus there is a whole host of wildlife for citizens to see, with more 50 different species documented by Birmingham residents who are members of the Audubon Society," Fox said.
The Rouge River Trail and the river are habitats for fish, birds and many large animals such as deer and foxes. It also ties into the trail system around Quarton Lake, where work is wrapping up on phase two of a restoration project.
Any proposed improvements along the trail would serve as a planning and budgeting tool for Birmingham City Commissioners. Changes could involve interpretive signage that would identify a lot of the native species of plants and trees that are growing along the trail and in the parks. Other items that have been discussed include bridges, benches and the possibility of putting in different kinds of surfaces at certain sections within the trail system that would accommodate bicyclists or people with disabilities.
"I think the city is setting a great example with their commitment to restoring and protecting the river corridor and prompting recreational use with this study," said Sally Petrella, public involvement coordinator for the Friends of the Rouge River.
Officials are expecting to have the study completed by late February or early March.
You can reach Delores Patterson at (248) 647-7225 or dpatterson@detnews.com.
Copyright © 2005
The Detroit News.
Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms of Service (updated 12/19/2002).