Plans surface for rail trail in Oakland County

Thursday, January 28, 2010 | Source: metromode

Another road between Royal Oak and Birmingham is about to surface, but the problem is that this one is less traveled.

Jim Rasor and his fellow city commissioners in Royal Oak are trying to change that. The legislative body is now formally pushing to turn a lightly used road for railroad maintenance vehicles adjacent to the tracks into a rail trail for everyone.

"This is a rail with trail, not a rail to trail," Rasor says.

The trail would go from downtown Royal Oak north to the Birmingham border. Rasor hopes it could go even farther north if the other local municipalities pick up the cause. The space is already used illegally by pedestrians and bicyclists who routinely travel its length.

The railroad corridor, which is owned by Canadian National Railway, has two sets of tracks and a maintenance road running alongside it. Rasor and other backers of the plan want to build a barrier of fencing and shrubs between the tracks and road so the road can be opened up to everyone.

"There is a lot of space there," Rasor says. "All of the bridges are wide enough for the road. The rail was designed for four tracks but only two were installed."

He admits that local municipalities like Royal Oak are too cash-strapped to tackle such a project, but thinks the Oakland County Parks system could do so. He points out that most of the parks in that system are on the outskirts of the county because the urbanized southeast section was already built out when parkland was being acquired.

Rasor also likes to make the point that this will enhance the quality of life for young people and help attract young families. He compares Metro Detroit unfavorably to other vibrant urban areas that our brain drain funnels to that have well-established, non-motorized transportation options, like Chicago and Toronto. In Metro Detroit commuters are mostly chained to their cars.

"There are a great many groups that would like to see this happen," Rasor says.

Source: Jim Rasor, city commissioner with Royal Oak
Writer: Jon Zemke