Friends of the Detroit River, in partnership with Downriver Linked Greenways, has received a $4.1 million federal grant to eliminate gaps in the trail and make intersection improvements for the Downriver Linked Greenways Trail System.
The federal funding provides the match on $2.1 million that was already secured through a grant from the Detroit-based Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation in 2022.
The funding will strengthen connections of the Downriver Linked Greenways. The gaps, intersections, and bike lanes will link nine communities in the Downriver area, home to more than 130,000 people, with Detroit.
Once the project is complete, the strengthened trail system will give a diverse population of resident’s access to various green spaces, such as parks and wildlife habitats.
“This grant will allow us to improve trail connections along a 25-mile stretch through 10 communities,” says Mary Bohling, director of Downriver Linked Greenways. “This trail system will help communities connect and learn more about their surrounding environment, while supporting an active lifestyle.”
The combined trail systems will provide an outlet for cyclists, walkers, runners, and kayakers to engage in physical activity and serve as safe routes to community connection points like local parks, schools, public gathering spaces, and riverfront activities.
“This is a $6.2 million project that is much more than just a trail project. This connected trail system will improve access, provide transportation alternatives, improve recreation opportunities, and create economic development opportunities that together will have a profound impact on quality of life in these Downriver Communities,” says J.J. Tighe, director of parks and trails at the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
Downriver Linked Greenways has been working with Downriver communities for more than two decades.
Downriver Linked Greenways is a non-profit organization with a mission to help facilitate trail planning, development, marketing, and programming of both land and water trails. Since 1998, the organization has helped to facilitate more than 100 miles of trails in the Downriver Region of Metropolitan Detroit.
For more information, visit www.downrivertrails.org.
Friends of the Detroit River, a nonprofit organization, was formed in 1992 by a group of citizens dedicated to preserving and maintaining the habitat of the Detroit River.
