TART Trails Seeks Bingham Township Approval For Leelanau Trail Enhancements

On Thursday, June 2, TART Trails will be seeking approval from the Bingham Township Planning Commission for new amenities along the Leelanau Trail, including a porta-let at the Shady Lane trailhead and a landscaped rest node at the half-way point between Suttons Bay and Traverse City, with a covered picnic table and roof with solar charging station.

In addition, TART Trails is seeking an amendment to its land use permit to add a parallel, natural-surface single track to portions of the trail.

Chris Kushman, TART Trail’s trail planning & management director, says that once the nonprofit hears the Township’s response and directive, the organization would like to explore leveling a site at the Shady Lane trailhead for the porta toilet “on the east side of the trail and near the tree line, locating the facility on the east side (farthest from homes) of the berm, parking lot, and trail” to minimize its presence.

Kushman adds that a separate proposed rest stop, just north of Bingham Road, “will be a welcome addition for a lot of folks. It’s a place to step off the trail safely, stop and catch your breath and have some trail amenities there.” He notes that “True North Landscaping, our neighbor immediately to the east, on the other side of the property line, would like to donate their services to design and landscape the rest node.”

He adds, “It could be at this location or somewhere else in the vicinity — we are flexible — that we would like to have a covered structure, to allow somebody to get shade or out from a downpour.”

Here Leelanau Energy “would have a solar panel for a device changing station, and an interpretive sign that would speak to renewable energy.”

TART Trails is also seeking to create a second trail on its Leelanau Trail property. “We’ve called it the parallel trail,” says Kushman. “It is a dirt single track trail — 3 to 4 feet wide — that will allow us to shadow the existing trail with a natural surface trail, allowing trail users to bike or to run on non-asphalt surfaces in more varied terrain.”

The proposed parallel trail would extend at its north end to Eckerle Road in Suttons Bay, and it would run to the south as far as County Road 641.

Kushman notes that Bingham Township is the only township that the Leelanau Trail passes through which requires a special land use permit to construct the parallel route. “However, we have thinking through what we can do to make it appealing to everybody and anywhere there is a home along the trail we will merge back to the asphalt trail. It will also re-merge before and after every road crossing (with the trails running parallel within sight distance for a stretch and with a stop sign for the dirt trail).

In the winter the parallel trail will be groomed for snow bikes.

“We’d love if the community can voice support for healthy, happy lifestyles on improved and enhanced trailways, or if they have concerns, the planning commission meeting is the perfect time and place to talk though those,” says Kushman.