ANN ARBOR, MI — The news that the University of Michigan is planning to redevelop two of its properties along the railroad in Ann Arbor has some wondering if it might be an opportunity to revisit routing the Treeline urban trail along the tracks.
That was the city’s original idea back in 2017, but concerns from the railroad owner and opposition from UM, which didn’t want to give up the west edge of its Elbel Field marching band practice site off Hill Street, led the city to shift course and come up with an on-street bikeway alternative yet to be implemented.
In the years since, UM has acquired and cleared the old Fingerle Lumber site along the tracks to the north and is now planning a site swap to make that its new marching band practice site, while proposing a 2,300-bed dorm on the current Elbel Field site.
With that major reimagining of both sites in the works, some community members are now wondering whether UM could make room along the edge of its properties for a path for pedestrians and cyclists parallel to the tracks, going all the way from Madison Street to Hill to Hoover Avenue, for the Treeline project.
Could it happen?
So far, the university isn’t saying no, but it also isn’t making any promises.
“The new student housing project, at this time, is still at its earliest stages,” UM spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said. “As the overall site plan evolves, all forms of circulation will be taken into consideration by the design team.”
The portion of the Treeline trail that could either go through or around UM property is at the southern end of what’s envisioned to be a longer pathway wrapping around the west edge of downtown and crossing over North Main Street to connect with the Border-to-Border Trail along the Huron River.
While a handful of pieces of the Treeline trail already are in place, it’s expected to take several more years and many millions of dollars to achieve the full vision. The city and the nonprofit Treeline Conservancy, which is partnering with the city, have been focused in recent years on planning the more expensive and elaborate northern crossing over Main Street.
As for whether there might be a new opportunity to collaborate with UM on a southern segment along the tracks and get UM to design and build it, that’s a conversation to be had.
“At this point, the Treeline Conservancy and the city of Ann Arbor have not yet engaged regarding how the university’s decision may impact the route of the trail,” Treeline Conservancy Executive Director Nan Plummer said. “We expect to discuss that in the coming days or weeks.”
As for what work has been done on the Treeline project this year and where fundraising stands, Plummer said she’d have more information to share in the new year.
City Council officially adopted the Treeline trail plan as part of the city’s overall master plan in late 2017.
For the segment that now could run along the edge of the old Fingerle Lumber site from Madison Street to Hill Street if UM is wiling, the city decided in 2017 on the alternative of routing the trail along the opposite side of the tracks to take advantage of the fact that a new apartment building was being developed at 615 S. Main St. and the developer agreed to put a pathway for the Treeline behind the building.
That short path now exists, but the trickier job of extending it down to Hill Street through other property has yet to be realized. Switching to using UM property on the other side of the tracks could mean scrapping that idea.
For the Treeline segment originally planned to continue diagonally along the tracks along Elbel Field from Hill to Hoover, the city shifted course after UM’s pushback in 2017 to plan for a zigzag path around the block using street right-of-way along Greene Street down to Hoover and then State Street. Those plans have not been implemented.
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