Atlas Twp.-Trails through the township inched closer on Monday night when the board of trustees voted 5-0 and OK’d a memorandum of understanding with the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission for the purposes of constructing, operating and maintaining about a mile section of the Iron Belle Trail.
The first township trail will parallel the west side of Gale Road connecting the Goodrich pathway in front of the high school to the sidewalk in downtown Atlas. The section of trail will be part of a statewide project to connect Belle Isle in Detroit to Ironwood in the Western Upper Peninsula’more than 1,200 miles.
The estimated cost of the Gale Road Trail will be $778,173. Funding for the project will include $300,000 from the Transportation Alternatives Program or TAP grant. The federal transportation funding seeks projects that provide choices and walkability. Another $300,000 will come from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust fund grant. The balance, about $160,000, or matching funds, will be provided by Atlas Township. costs now will be construction costs at the time work begins,? he said.
Earlier this summer Livonia-based OHM engineering provided the scoping for the project at a cost of $3,640. Those plans are available to the public at the township hall.
The pathway project was approved by township voters on Nov. 4 by a vote of 1,664 yes to 1,502 no. The 1/8 mill or $6 per year OK’d by voters will generate about $33,292 per year to fund the pathways in the township. The funding will be available for the project to go forward by March 1. The ‘Walk, Bike, Run Atlas Township? committee formed about a year ago has gathered 358 signed petitions from residents in support of recreational paths in the township.
The committee reported that trails are necessary to provide a sense of community, increase property values, offer a safe location for outdoor activities, attract young families to the community, and improve the health of residents. Much of the funding for the project will come from established grant sources such as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. However, matching dollars are often needed’which will be funded by the pathway millage.

Since the pathway millage generates about $33,000 per year about five years are needed to produce the matching funds needed for the project.
Township Trustee Barry June and pathways committee advisor estimates the funding will not be needed until 2017 and enough will be generated by the millage to cover the $160,000 matching funds.
‘The only wild card regarding the