Leelanau County and Elmwood Township both received grants for a combined $450,000 from the Department of Natural Resources for projects that will be completed in 2027.
“If you drive on Cherry Bend road in the summer or winter, there’s people walking on the shoulder,” Elmwood Township supervisor Jeff Shaw said. “When they get on this new trail, they’ll be able to reconnect to the Tart trail four-tenths of a mile up on Cherry Bend Road.”
Elmwood received $400,000 from the DNR which will help construct a trail along Cherry Bend road. This is a part of the project the county has already approved for the reconstruction of Cherry Bend road which will start in 2027. The funding for the road reconstruction is coming from the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) which Leelanau county joined in 2023 after the census was finalized upgrading from a rural planning area. The MPO is funding $1.1 million dollars for the project.
