Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Connector trail links Iron Belle with Miners Park

By TOM LAVENTURE

Ironwood - A recently completed "connector trail" now links the Iron Belle Trail with the Miners Memorial Heritage Park trail system.

The connector trail starts with a parking lot and kiosk on a segment of Iron Belle Trail just off of U.S. 2 at Rosella Street, and adjacent to the AmericInn Ironwood hotel. The paved walking and bicycle trail joins the Iron Belle for a short distance before heading southwest for about one-half mile until emerging at East Ayer Street across from Miners Park at the Ironwood bus barn.

"This is another step to non-motorized connectivity from different parts of the community to our park system," said Tom Bergman, director of community development for the city of Ironwood. "Our goal is to have all these things work together to have a non-motorized system throughout the whole community."

Snow Country Contracting completed the work as a phase of a larger project using a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. The project includes the construction of a parking lot adjacent to the dog park at Bonnie Road and Ayer Street for a mountain bike trail to be constructed within Miners Park as part of a separate phase of the same project.

"City public works crews have already constructed the entrance and installed a culvert last fall in preparation for the parking lot this summer," said city manager Scott Erickson at a recent city commission meeting. 

The parking lot work currently involves landscaping and installation of concrete pads for benches and picnic tables along with a bus shelter that was provided by Gogebic County Transit Authority. The recreational area will also serve as an observation platform for a new pump track and mountain bike trail, Bergman said.

The mountain bike trail project bid was awarded to Marquette-based Flowtrack Mountain Bike Trails, LLC, for construction of 10 miles of pump and hand cycle tracks, cross country and mountain bike trails, a three-foot boardwalk trail and signage.

The Trust Fund grant was possible with matching funds from the Ironwood Tourism Council and Sisu Dirt Crew. In kind, labor and vehicle support was provided by the city of Ironwood.

Miners Park currently hosts miles of hiking and groomed skiing and snowshoeing trails. The mountain bike trails will be single track and narrower.

The pump track is a condensed trail with a mix of firm and rolling features that allow mountain bikers to maneuver the terrain without having to peddle, Bergman said. The design allows momentum from rolling, twisting and turning a bicyclist to continue movement throughout the course.

The mountain bike trail design uses a single track and provides an array of challenges that will require peddling, he said. The project is currently in the design phase and should be completed soon after the 2022 construction season begins.

"That is the second part of the project," Erickson said. "We're still talking to the contractor and he has this fall and next year to do the work."

In the future, the Southern Beltline railroad grade will form another connector from the Iron Belle Trail to Norrie Park, Bergman said. That trail connection will allow both motorized and non-motorized use.

 
 
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