Walled Lake Rail to Trail

[froggyrider]

Hello,

FYI- there is an informational meeting tomorrow night about a possible rail to trail in Walled Lake:

http://www.walledlake.com/documents/Pub ... %20mtg.pdf

A few members will be going; please attend if you can and are interested.

Thanks.

[wheels_emu]

Like!

[WallEyed]

For anyone interested in attending, here is some info on how to find the address:
http://www.commercetwp.com/directions

[Apps]

I'm planning on being there...wish I could get out of here early enough to ride ther ebut I don't see that happening...

Justin

[hockeydaddy]

What was the outcome?

[WallEyed]

Things went well, all three communities are in favor and things are moving forward. There was one guy in a room of at least 25-30 people against it and he is from American Plastic Toys on Ladd Road... the only company still regularly using that railway. This could pose a problem, but they may do a "rail-with-trail" solution since it is only a part of the railway that they would need to keep. With all of the processes that they have to go through, it will realistically be a few years before we see anything out of this. If you want to help, send letters of support to the community leaders. They were all very positive about the project, but a show of more support won't hurt!

[froggyrider]

Thanks for the report, Dave. I'll write a letter on behalf of the chapter.

[WishIcouldcatchmybreath]

I'm just curious....how does American Plastic Toys use the railway exactly? The track is not connected to anything from the east, and the trains from the west just use a couple hundred yards of track to the east of Wixom Rd for shuffling cars around.

[Apps]

I'm just curious....how does American Plastic Toys use the railway exactly? The track is not connected to anything from the east, and the trains from the west just use a couple hundred yards of track to the east of Wixom Rd for shuffling cars around.

Apparently they get a load of plastic pellets once a week (or so) according to their CFO who was at the meeting. It's a 5 fold increase in the shipping cost of the pellets for them (~500/load to ~2500/load). The employ about 170=180 people so the board is considering how to address this but as Dave mentioned...a Rail with Trail arrangement was discussed if need be....

Justin

[washedout]

I have no connection to Amer. Plastic Toys, but we try to buy stuff for our kids from this company any time we have a choice between their product and somthing from China. It is decent quality, and priced fairly. I can only imagine how hard it is to compete with China, so it's understandable that they would want/have to keep costs down anyway they can. I hope something good for both them and us can be worked out, (that's alot of jobs) obviously I'd like my kids to someday ride the rail trail too.

[billips1002]

Newbie here...

I was wondering if anyone knows what portion of the railway American Plastic Toys still uses. I like in the Fox Glenn sub, entrance next to the RR crossing at Maple Road (West of Benstein Rd). We in the neighborhood are all obviously very strong supporters of this rail to trail conversion and I'm wondering if this might derail the possibility of trail access at the entrance to our sub.

p.s.

Is there a map of the paved trail that crosses Pontiac Trail near its intersection with Milford Road (also near I-96 Milford/South Lyon exit)? I'm new to mountain biking and I'm trying to get the lay of the land as far as trails go around here.

Thanks!

[risnewski]

Here's the best map I have found: http://www.accunet.us/1/223/files/Huron ... _Trail.pdf

[Apps]

Newbie here...

I was wondering if anyone knows what portion of the railway American Plastic Toys still uses. I like in the Fox Glenn sub, entrance next to the RR crossing at Maple Road (West of Benstein Rd). We in the neighborhood are all obviously very strong supporters of this rail to trail conversion and I'm wondering if this might derail the possibility of trail access at the entrance to our sub.

The use the rails from wixom over to Ladd Rd I believe. As we stated above, all the communities are for this rail trail but we may have to modify it to a Rail with Trail in the area of Ladd Rd to Wixom, In this economy, noone wants to be the guy to put 170+ families out of work....While it's a concern, it is by no means a show stopper from what I gathered at the meeting...

Justin
Hickory Glen Trail Coordinator

[billips1002]

Here's the best map I have found: http://www.accunet.us/1/223/files/Huron ... _Trail.pdf

Thanks for the map!

Please pardon my ignorance... are all the bold yellow and orange markings paved trails? If so I wasn't aware of the many paved trails in the area. That's great!

[WishIcouldcatchmybreath]

The bright yellow is a "concept" of future trails. See the key at the bottom. There are lots of good routes in the area if you ride a mountain bike, and don't mind trails and gravel roads.....