On Saturday, June 27, at the 8th Annual Tacos & Trek for Trail, Claudia Ressel-Hodan, board chair for Friends of the Pentwater Hart Trail, had big news to share. “I am happy to announce that recent funding has made it possible for us to begin construction of Phase 2 next spring.”
She reported that a recent grant of $888,861 was given to the City of Hart from the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration's Safe Routes to School Grant program. Matching funds of $307,397 from the Friends of the Pentwater Hart Trail, taken from the Hansen state appropriation grant, covered the full cost of Phase 2 of the Pentwater Hart Trail.
This is a milestone to celebrate on the long journey of seeing this project through. Efforts to connect Pentwater to the Hart Montague Bike Trail began in 2015. Paved shoulders leaving Pentwater (Phase 1) were completed in 2019, using funds from the state appropriation grant of $1.4 million that former Senator Goeff Hansen secured for infrastructure costs. In addition to paying for Phase 1, it has also been used for surveying, engineering and the recent matching funds needed for Phase 2. The remaining funds are available for use with Phase 3.
The third phase of the project takes the Trail a distance of 5.2 miles from the corner of Tyler Road and 72nd Avenue (where Safe Routes to School ends), north to Longbridge Road, and over Pentwater River to Monroe Road. This phase will cost approximately $6 million. Ressel-Hodan said, “I am deeply grateful to John Wilson, who has been handling all the grant-seeking proposals to fund the Pentwater Hart Trail, including helping the City of Hart with their grant proposal. He has done a great job and will now begin looking for Phase 3 funding.”
This year’s Tacos and Trek for Trail event had 74 registered participants who biked, ran or walked 3 miles on a marked route through the village. Event proceeds augment the maintenance fund, required by funders to sustain the project once it is completed. Each registrant received an event tee shirt and two tickets for tacos to use after crossing the finish line. With a donation, non-participants could purchase tacos as well, served by volunteers in the pavilion on the Village Green. Event publicity and the registration table were also handled by volunteers. Ressel-Hodan affirmed, “This is a very giving community, and the Pentwater Hart Trail could not happen without all the support the community provides.”
