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by Tom Garnett and Mick Hawkins, of the Chief Noonday Chapter, NCTA
The Calhoun County Board of Commissioners will decide soon the fate of the Calhoun County Trailway in Emmett Township on the east side of Battle Creek, and with it part of the fate of the North Country Trail. Very likely the CCTA trail would replace pretty much all of the roadwalk currently in place from the east boundary of Battle Creek down to Historic Bridge Park in Emmett Township.
A Master Plan was completed in 2006, and grants have been obtained in the past two years through the work of the Calhoun Country Trailway Alliance (CCTA) to build 5.3 miles of multi-use off-road trail connecting the Battle Creek Linear Path with Historic Bridge Park through the county parks of The Ott Biological Preserve, Kimball Pines, and Historic Bridge Park.
Beyond this first segment, planning is being developed to take this trail all the way to Homer, connecting with Marshall, and Albion on the way. This will be a great extension of trails within the area.
After several Commission votes in support of the trailway in recent years, an opposition group, Friends of the Ott, have been successful in creating some "doubt" particularly in the minds of the "new" commissioners. The trailway is one part of the CCTA's vision of a trail across Calhoun County and the State of Michigan's vision of a trail connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
The Chief Noonday Chapter of the North Country Trail Association has been much involved in the CCTA project from the get-go. Chief Noonday obtained funding for early feasibility studies for the project. See map on Chief Noonday site that shows approximately where the CCTA corridor would go.
Contact the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance at cfc-cc.org
This segment is on NCTA map MI-02
See Chief Noonday Chapter of the NCTA
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