York Township Committee shares options for proposed trail

By Karen Lambert

A packed room of York Township residents gathered at the township hall Thursday evening Jan. 9 to learn more about two proposed options for a walking, running and cycling trail along Willis Road, stretching east from Saline City limits to the Koch-Warner Drain.

“Option 1 keeps the nature of the township a little bit more preserved, as far as going around existing trees,” explained Derek Stern, Chair of the Non-Motorized Pathway Committee, while adding, “the second option would be more along the road, causing less disruption to home owners with property along the route.”

Concern about existing trees, he said, had been voiced at the first meeting the committee held with the public about the pathway a year earlier, after the initial feasibility study had been completed.

If built, the 8-10’ wide pathway could lengthen over the years as additional phases were added, perhaps extending as far as Mary McCann Park on Warner Road, just south of Bemis, and Sandra Richardson Park, located on Platt, just south of Willis. The committee said there are two main obstacles that would have to be overcome: 1) To obtain the funding, hopefully largely from grants; 2) To negotiate the path with property owners whose properties are impacted.

Bill Cook, trustee on the York Township Non-Motorized Pathway Committee, thanked everyone for coming.

“If you feel strongly about it one way or another please don’t be intimidated,” he said. “Whether you are positive or negative about it, we want to hear from you. We want to do this together.”

The meeting drew a large number of residents, many who simply asked questions, while others voiced support or concerns over the issue.

“I’m very excited,” said longtime resident and cyclist Theresa Brosius, who lives along Moon Road. “If you wanted to change the route you could come down Moon Road. I’ve used bike paths in many cities. I went all the way to Seattle recently.”

Brosius, a member of Adventure Cycling and Rails and Trails, offered to utilize her connections with those groups to help with the project. However, after the meeting she also said she could understand the concerns of some residents along the pathway and said she’d be OK with the option closer to the road if it helped them.

Karl Kennedy, who owns the 118-year-old 500-acre H&K Braun Farms along Willis, Bemis and Ann Arbor Saline, said he had concerns that he’d lose part of the land that he uses to earn his living – and end up with even more garbage to clean up than he currently does from pedestrians coming through.

“That’s why I’m here tonight; I did not know about the meeting last year…. My mom was born on the farm in the house,” he said.

“You are a staple of the community and the community recognizes that. We are not here to run you out,” said trustee Mark McCulloch.

“I try to take care of my property,” Kennedy said. “If you can’t take care of your property, you shouldn’t own it.”

Some residents extolled the health benefits, including recreation, getting people out visiting and socializing. Another expressed sadness that she lived on a part of Willis that would not be adjoining the trail. A father said he currently does not let his children bike to Saline and felt this proposal would make it safe for them to do so.

Others brought up concerns about maintenance, liability, property values for those who have the trail in their front yards, speed limits in the area, and beautifully landscaped areas they would not like destroyed.

One man with concerns over how it would impact his home on Willis said he was not opposed to the plan, but wondered if the two options could be blended into a final pathway.

In response to a question from a landowner who said the township took part of his property years ago for signage and then never completed the project, board members said that no work would be done on a phase (currently they are looking at only phase 1A) until everything were in place to ensure the project proceeded smoothly.

Another woman said she moved to the area to avoid sidewalks and expressed concern that her neighbor’s house is pretty much on the road.

“It is possible that [the trail] switches to the north side part way,” said Stern, though other board members said it would have to be done at a very safe place.

The options are based on an ongoing engineering study conducted by Nowak & Fraus Engineers out of Pontiac, Michigan. The township says one goal of the project was to provide opportunities for increased mobility for those who cannot or do not want to drive while providing recreational opportunities and protecting the rural character of York Township.

Township supervisor Chuck Tellas said they started exploring the idea of a walkway and cycling path about three years ago. They had been talking about expanding parking lots in the parks and a younger staff person suggested instead looking at ways to allow people to bike to the parks.

The feasibility study suggests the south side of Willis as most likely. Going forward a big focus will be talking with adjoining landowners to see what works best for them.

“The big one is the Braun farm,” Tellas said. “It’s a beautiful farm and interesting history, too, they keep it in just pristine condition .…. We will work back and forth to make sure we will follow their wishes and try to find out a solution for what will work for them.”

The ongoing study was paid for through a $70,000 grant through the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission’s Connecting Communities Grant program. The money for that commission comes from the .5 mil Road and Non-Motorized Millage Washtenaw County voters have approved every four years since 2016 and just renewed at the 2024 election. The Border to Border Trail by Dexter and Chelsea has also been funded with that money.

York Township is still accepting additional questions and feedback and encouraged York Township residents to email their thoughts to the chair of the Non-Motorized Pathway Committee Derek Stern at derek.stern@comcast.net. More information can be found at: https://www.twp-york.org/government/boards_commissions_/non-motor_transportation_committee/index.php.

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