East Bay Township Updates: Safe Routes to School/Three Mile Trail, Holiday Woodlands, CIA

Several key projects are poised to move ahead in East Bay Township, including a major Safe Routes to School/trail expansion in the Three Mile/Hammond corridor, potential improvements to Holiday Woodlands, and the establishment of a Corridor Improvement Authority (TIF district) on US-31.

Safe Routes to School/Three Mile Trail
Construction is set to break ground in 2026 on a significant expansion of pedestrian amenities in the Three Mile/Hammond area, including a long-discussed Safe Routes to School (SRTS) project and the extension of the Three Mile Trail.

Township Director of Planning & Zoning Claire Karner provided a recent update to East Bay Township Parks and Recreation commissioners on both projects. All funding has been secured for the SRTS project, Karner said, which will add almost two miles of 10-foot-wide pathways along Three Mile and Hammond Roads where none currently exist, connecting Cherry Knoll Elementary School, East Middle School, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (SEAS) Middle School, and Grand Traverse Academy to surrounding neighborhoods and commercial properties. Karner said the township has been working with new residential developments coming online in the corridor to provide connections from those neighborhoods to the trail system wherever possible.

A Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) will be installed at the SEAS entrance, along with safe pedestrian crossings and ADA-accessible ramps on all four corners at the Hammond/Three Mile intersection. “I think that’s going to be a huge improvement,” Karner said. The RRFB will operate similarly to the pedestrian crossings on Eighth Street – with a flashing light warning drivers that pedestrians are crossing – but has the potential to be upgraded to a HAWK-like crossing (such as on Grandview Parkway) if there’s enough usage, she said. The township is working with the schools and Grand Traverse County Road Commission to implement a school speed zone around the intersection that will lower the speed limit to 35mph during drop-off and pick-up times.

Another key project component is a new civic plaza next to the True North gas station. The space is intended to host public artwork, educational nature signage, picnic tables, landscaping, and bike racks and fix-it stations. Given the surrounding schools, library, township hall, and new sidewalk/trail connections, Karner said the plaza will ideally function as a new “town center” in the corridor. SRTS project funding includes a $1.5 million SRTS grant, just under $800,000 in state Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) funds, and $50,000 grants from the Oleson Foundation and Rotary Charities. Construction is expected to start right after school lets out next summer and be timed with the reconstruction of Hammond Road, Karner said.

Karner said the township has received “very favorable” feedback on a roughly $3 million Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant for the Three Mile Trail extension. That project will extend the Three Mile Trail from South Airport Road to Hammond Road. Karner noted the route was slightly adjusted recently to protect more wetlands and reduce costs. The first phase of construction – from South Airport to the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy property – was initially planned to be a multi-year project. However, based on the TAP grant feedback, East Bay and TART Trails could be “expediting” the first phase and completing it all in the 2026-27 construction season, Karner said. A second future phase, estimated for 2028-29, would complete the last leg from the Conservancy to Hammond.

Holiday Woodlands
Township Parks and Recreation commissioners have approved a report for the Holiday Woodlands Natural Area outlining desired short and long-term improvements for the property.

East Bay Township received a Seed grant from Rotary Charities to pay for community engagement services –provided by Beckett & Raeder – to gather resident input on desired improvements. A working group of stakeholders, a public survey, and an open house all provided feedback on plans for the 145-acre property off Five Mile Road. Top priorities included adding more benches, balancing hiking and cycling activities, improving signage and wayfinding, adding trash receptacles, making connections from Holiday Hills/the VASA, and creating an improved/relocated parking area. Users disliked the idea of more hardened improvements like a pavilion, preferring to keep the park as natural as possible.

Short-term plans could include establishing a system for citizens to report trail maintenance needs, clarifying and posting park rules, and formalizing a new park entrance. Longer-term goals including establishing and paving a new parking area – which could move north from Five Mile Road to the end of Holiday Village Road, with neighbor approval – as well as creating new loop/connector trails and gravel routes within Holiday Woodlands. The township is in the process of seeking grant funding for park improvements.

Corridor Improvement Authority
Township trustees will vote tonight (Monday) at their 6pm meeting on establishing a corridor improvement authority (CIA) – a type of TIF district –  along US-31. The CIA could help fund public improvements like a pedestrian bridge or crossings, sidewalks, streetscaping, and a pier on Grand Traverse Bay. Part of tonight’s vote will include establishing the boundaries of the district, expected to run the length of US-31 in East Bay Township (pictured, bottom right), as well as a CIA board. That board must have the township supervisor on it, as well as business and resident representatives from the district.

Some residents have expressed concern that the suggested board list – including representatives from Alexandra Inn, Cherry Tree Inn, Bay View Insurance, and Swing Theory – skews overly toward business and not residential interests. Township resident Trenton Lee wrote to trustees urging them to add one or two residents with no business ties to the corridor, saying the goal should be to “ensure residents – those whose primary interests are the livability, safety, and character of the corridor – have a voice alongside those representing business and property interests.”

Township staff noted in meeting materials that they still hope to add another resident to the board, as well as tribal representation. Several non-voting liaisons are also planned to work with the CIA board, representing organizations like TART Trails, BATA, Traverse Connect, Grand Traverse County, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.