Paint Creek Trailways Coordinator Kristen Myers said allowing Michigan State University to conduct a user survey on the trail this summer is a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Myers was approached by Dr. Christine Vogt and her colleague Dr. Chuck Nelson from MSU with a request to conduct a user survey on the Paint Creek Trail. Vogt received a $10,000 grant related to transportation and tourism from the Michigan Department of Transportation for the project. Myers said in turn the data collected from the survey will help the Paint Creek Trailways Commission to apply for grants of their own.
‘I took them on a tour (of the trail) in May,? added Myers. ‘They will have surveyors stopping people at five different points on the trail, including Clarkston, Gallagher, Tienken and Rochester…they will work in three hour shifts, and they started on June 15.?
MSU has a goal of 18 surveys a day, six per hour.
‘They have 70 sample days, and they’d like to conduct 1,260 interviews,? Myers said. ‘Some of the surveyors will be MSU graduate students, and some local residents have volunteered to help.?
Myers wants residents who are asked to stop and complete the survey to know it is only one page and it is endorsed by the Paint Creek Trailyways Commission.
‘It’s not too much time out of someone’s day,’said Myers. ‘This will help with our master plan.?
Having a survey conducted in 2005 was included in the commission’s master plan, but when the commission received a bid from Oakland University to do one, the bid came in at $10,000.
‘Our entire budget is $85,000,? Myers said. ‘So we scheduled one for 2005. We hadn’t located a funding source yet for it, now we can take it off our plan.
‘One of the questions on the survey is ‘What one improvement would you like to see on the trail?,? ‘It’s an open ended question…We might hear something we never expected. It will help us plan better.?
The information provided by the survey, which will be made available to the trailways commission, will also help them prepare needs statements needed for applying for grants.
‘The survey will end on Sept. 15,? said Myers. ‘MDOT wants to know with the unmotorized trails, how many people are using them for transportation.
‘We’re in a suburban setting, in a densely populated area,? Myers continued. ‘I’ve talked to people who live in Lake Orion and ride their bike to work in Rochester (on the Paint Creek Trail).?
The other focus of the project, from MDOT’s perspective, will be tourism.
‘They want to see if people are coming from out of the area to use the trail,? said Myers. ‘They also have a survey for the White Pine Trail from Kalamazoo to Cadillac, and surveys have been done in Midland and Lansing. But Paint Creek Trail is the only trail being surveyed in Southeast Michigan.?
According to Nelson, there are two questions MSU hopes to answer with the Paint Creek Trail survey.
‘There are two things we’re curious about,? he said. ‘In our initial study two years ago, we looked at a rail trail (in Midland). We tried to show what are the range of benefits from the trail.?
The survey looked at issues of transportation, health, business, recreation and the influence the trail had on property values.
‘We got a second phase grant (from MDOT) to look at what are the transportation and economic benefits,? Nelson said. ‘With the Paint Creek Trail, it’s a trail linking people to two well-established areas (Lake Orion and Rochester).
‘We’re very curious about how people are using that link. I think we’ll find people saying there are multiple benefits (to the trail).?
MSU’s study of the Pere Marquette Rail Trail, produced on video as ‘The Life of a Michigan Rail Trail,? showed how businesses began to develop along the trail.
‘It showed how the whole attitude of the trail changed,? said Myers, adding that there might be money for MSU to do a video of the Paint Creek Trail.
‘We want to know how the trail fits into the fabric of the community,? said Nelson. ‘We really encourage folks to stop by and do this…it’s a brief survey, and this is their chance to register their opinion.
‘They can help the future of the trail by doing this. It’s a report card for the Paint Creek Trail.?
Nelson said so far MSU has had ‘tremendous cooperation) from the Paint Creek Trailways Commission and Oakland County.
‘They’ve been great,? he said. ‘The final results will be available in early 2005. We plan to present them in some type of public forum in Oakland Township.?
Users of the Paint Creek Trail will be asked at random to stop and take the survey between the hours of 7 a.m.-8 p.m., seven days a week through Sept. 15.