More alternatives for Heritage Trail project

As a 5/9/24 front page Enterprise article said, the debate over the final 4.2-mile Segment 9 of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail continues. There’s a simple reason why.

More information is available. The Borealis Tree Survey counted 7,300 doomed trees and identified three state-protected ecosystems: Critical Dune Area (85% of the route), globally rare dune and swale complex, and wetlands.

The Mansfield Engineering Report calculated the extreme construction required along the steep forested dunes that border Traverse Lake Road. Retaining walls up to 25 feet high for 950 feet would be necessary to hold back the razed dunes.