Mich. Gov.: Build trail from Detroit to Wis.
IRONWOOD, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says the state will work to create a 599-mile hiking and biking trail stretching from Belle Isle park in Detroit to Ironwood on the Wisconsin border in the western Upper Peninsula.
Snyder’s proposal would build on existing trails. He’s directing the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to work with private and nonprofit partners to make the full route a reality.
The Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/VhfGyX ) says the project would need 81.5 miles of new trails in the Lower Peninsula and 152 miles in the Upper Peninsula.
In an address on energy and the environment Wednesday, Snyder said Michigan could one day be known as the Trail State. He says the Detroit-to-Ironwood project would create a “signature” experience.
Nov 30, 2012 at 6:33 a.m.
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Do politicians have nothing else to do but sit around and think of ways to spend money?. Just for the next few years lets just get the economy back on the road to growth. Then lets do these wonderful things for every state. It is a good idea but how many permanent jobs would this create? We love to hike too (recently hiked a segment of the Appalacian Trail) but lets just sit tight on spending money unless it helps create some lasting jobs.
Nov 30, 2012 at 5:40 a.m.
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Rick - Not everyone is in desperate straits. Some people actually get vacation time and have money to spend. If we were to go into this no spend mode some people subscribe to we would go into total collapse. Look how well it has worked in this state.
Nov 29, 2012 at 10:45 p.m.
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I don't know how many jobs construction will bring, but recreational hiking and biking are major drivers of tourism dollars in Wisconsin. The UP portion of this trail piggybacks on the existing North Country Scenic Trail, which crosses seven states:
http://northcountrytrail.org/
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Wisconsin has a number of major trails, including the Ice Age Trail, but they are not all accessible to bikes and the existing bike trails are not really well connected outside the Madison-Milwaukee corridor.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/findapark....
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Rock County is getting closer to being connected to this statewide system, though. It may still take years to complete everything necessary, but the parts that are in the works now could be the basis of a route from Rockford to Beloit, Janesville, and Milton, then all the way up to Lake Mills. From there you have bikeway access to Madison and Milwaukee.
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At a larger view, there is a nascent US Bicycle Route System that ultimately could be an "Interstate Highway System" for bikes, covering all 50 states.
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/u...
Nov 29, 2012 at 9:07 p.m.
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Great idea.
Nov 29, 2012 at 7:31 p.m.
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The people in that area could really use the jobs,I'd say do it ! I'm not a biker or a hiker but, I appreciate the great outdoors as well.
Nov 29, 2012 at 7:13 p.m.
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Great, the zombies will have sign posts to follow out of Detroit.
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