The Clinton River Trail is slicing right through downtown Pontiac. Phase II of the extension of the trail through the heart of downtown.
The new 1.5-mile extension continues where Phase I ended on Bagley Street, heading north to Orchard Lake Road. It then turns east on Orchard Lake toward downtown through the Woodward Loop before ending at Woodward and Huron Street.
The $375,000 project is being paid for by a $300,000 federal grant and $75,000 in local matching funds from the city of Pontiac. The new extension, a paved pathway alongside the streets, will connect a number of downtown's institutions to the trail, such as the Phoenix Plaza Amphitheater.
"It will provide people on the trail an option to get downtown in a safe fashion," says Dan Keifer, a member of the steering committee for the Friends of the Clinton River Trail.
Phase III will connect downtown to Auburn Hills, however, construction on that part of the overall project is still a couple years down the line.
The Clinton River Trail is a recreational trail on 15 miles of abandoned rail line through the heart of Oakland County. It connects the cities of Sylvan Lake, Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills and Rochester. It also connects with the existing West Bloomfield Trail to the west and the Macomb Orchard Trail to the east.
Source: Dan Keifer, steering committee for the Friends of the Clinton River Trail
Writer: Jon Zemke
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