Ann Arbor Applies for Gallup Path Repair

The Ann Arbor city council has approved a grant application to fund renovations to a pathway that runs through Gallup Park, which is part of the countywide Border-to-Border Trail connecting the eastern and western borders of Washtenaw County. Renovations would include repairs to the existing asphalt, as well as widening to 10 feet – in part to meet current American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards.

The council approved the grant application as a part of the consent agenda at its April 7, 2014 meeting. The consent agenda is a group of items that are voted on all in one go.

The city will be applying for a grant from the federal transportation alternatives program (TAP), which is administered in this region by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) and statewide by the Michigan Dept. of Transportation (MDOT). The grant funds, if awarded, would fund renovation of the pathway from the Geddes Dam at the east end of the Gallup Park pathway, to the parking lot east of Huron Parkway. The work would include the loop that leads around that part of the park. Total length of the pathway to be renovated is about two miles.

Funds would be used to renovate the path from the Geddes Dam at the east end of the Gallup Park pathway, to the parking lot east of Huron Parkway. The project also entails renovations to the large loop that encircles that portion of the park, totaling about 2 miles of trail. The application amount hasn’t yet been determined, but will likely be for $400,000 to $500,000. The entire project budget is in the $600,000 range, with likely about $200,000 in matching funds to come from the city’s parks and recreation maintenance and capital improvements millage.

The city would provide the $200,000 in grant matching funds from the parks and recreation capital improvements millage.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall located at 301 E. Huron.