About Roy Townsend
Roy Townsend is in the 3-decade club at the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC), he worked at WCRC for 31 years before his retirement in June 2018. A civil engineer by training, Roy served in numerous roles at WCRC, including project engineer and director of engineering, before being appointed to managing director in 2011.
A lot changed during Roy’s tenure. When he started as an engineer in the 1980s, there was only one computer shared between the Engineering and Traffic and Safety Departments. Anyone needing to use the computer had to ask permission to use it, everything else was done with an HP calculator. Today, WCRC’s engineers and consultants use the latest technology to design and build roads and bridges.
Whether it was with a shared computer or the latest technology, Roy worked on many impactful and memorable projects during his tenure, including the Dixboro Road Bridge, Jackson Road Boulevard (Phase 1 and 2), and the Delhi and Maple/Foster Historic Bridge Projects.
Roy also led the effort to create a Roads and Non-Motorized Millage in Washtenaw County. Voters approved the four-year, .5 millage in 2016. This millage means that an additional $25 million local dollars are being invested in Washtenaw County’s road and trail networks.
Roy still lives in Washtenaw County with his family. In his “second act”, he is now a project manager for the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission, focusing on non-motorized projects.
Resources
Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission
B2B Dexter Connection Construction Progress
Transcription
Rebekah Warren: This is 89.1 WEMU. Hello, and welcome to Issues of the Environment. I'm Rebekah Warren. And today, we're talking about a project that's changing how people experience Washtenaw County: the continued expansion of the Border-To-Border Trail. The Border-To-Border Trail is a massive 55-mile, non-motorized path designed to connect all Washtenaw County. And crews just broke ground on a crucial puzzle piece called the "Dexter Connection." Joining us today is Roy Townsend, Project Manager for Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation who's overseeing the newest Dexter Connection segment of the Border-To-Border trail. Roy, welcome!
Roy Townsend: Well, thank you, Rebekah! It's great to be here!
Rebekah Warren: Roy, this project, as you well know, is an ongoing project. We've been doing this for a long time. It's designed to connect communities with non-motorized paths, giving residents and visitors opportunities to walk, bike, commute, and enjoy nature. But building new infrastructure through wetlands, floodplains, and other sensitive landscapes requires careful planning to ensure environmental protection remains at the forefront. For listeners who maybe have not followed this project closely over the last few years, can you give us an overview of what's happening right now and why the Dexter Connection is such an important piece of the overall vision?
Roy Townsend: Yeah. Like you said, Rebekah, our goal here with the Border-To-Border Trail is really connecting Wayne County to Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor to Dexter, Dexter to Chelsea and Chelsea up to Stockbridge. And with that, this is the route that we try to wind through the woods and avoid trees and avoid wetlands. But sometimes, you do impact wetlands, so you're building boardwalks. We try to make a path that sort of connects with nature. So, I mean, when people are either walking or biking or whatever, running or whatever, they feel like they're back in nature. And I've heard a lot of people say, "Wow! I feel like we're up north!" And that's when we try to do. When we lay the alignment out, we try to make sure we're preserving as much of the environment. So, when you're on the trail, you feel like you are up north or you're in the woods. And so, you have that feel to it. So, we wind around trees. We do up and down and go around. So, not only will it be a connection and you want to use it as commuter route, it's a way for recreation and enjoy the environment.
Rebekah Warren: Well, one of the things that I noticed, because I love walking and hiking around on the Border-To-Border Trail, I noticed that in some areas we have these elevated boardwalks, rather than just pavement, like directly through some areas. Some of them look like they might be wetland areas. Can you explain why that approach makes such a difference environmentally?
Roy Townsend: Yeah. So, obviously, we're getting permits from the state of Michigan. EGLE, they're going to issue the permits. And we try to avoid wetlands, either go around them. But sometimes, the route has to go through them. And when we do, we're going to put an elevated boardwalk to preserve a way for the animals and the plants can survive. We won't disturb it when we get in there doing the work. But then, after that, the plants and animals can still live there. And then also, the users, the pedestrians and people can then have a view of the wetland and nature as you're up above it. So, seemingly for every project, we have some boardwalk featured just because, like you said, we try to keep these through the woods in different things versus it's not a sidewalk which is next to the road and it has no character. This is going to be through the woods. And when you go to the woods, you're going to get in the wetlands. Then we got to do whatever we can to protect those wetlands, so that's why we end up building the boardwalks to protect the wetlands.
Rebekah Warren: And besides the wetlands, there's other really sensitive natural areas throughout the Border-To-Border Trail, including the Mill Creek Floodplain. How do you balance things like the public's desire for more accessible trails with our shared responsibility to protect those wetlands and wildlife habitat? Besides the elevated boardwalk, are there other things that you think about in the construction to make sure we protect that sensitive habitat?
Roy Townsend: Yeah. For example, the Dexter Connection project is we're crossing Mill Creek So that one, we'll have a bridge across Mill Creek, which I think we'll talk about a little bit later. But also, we have these things called tail spans, which are basically longer bridges, so we're not in the floodplain. We'll have up here, which is. Basically, a concrete thing that sticks out of the ground to support the bridge. But then, the floodplain remains open, so if we do get a large rain event, we're not impacting the floodplain. And let's say the bridges that we have built across the Huron River are long enough, so we just span the river completely, somewhere like 230 feet. So, we try to avoid any impact into the rivers or floodplains by building larger bridges or longer bridges that span over these natural areas.
Rebekah Warren: This is Issues of the Environment on 89.1 WEMU. I'm Rebekah Warren. And today, we're talking with Roy Townsend from Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation about the expansion of the Border-to-Border Trail and how the project is balancing community connectivity and environmental stewardship. Roy, one of the things that I find amazing to watch is it's just absolutely remarkable how construction has accelerated over the last several years. The Border-To-Border Trail has been an idea and a growing project. But what change that allowed these projects to move so quickly in the last little bit than they originally were moving?
Roy Townsend: Yeah. Back, I guess, probably pre-2015, the county parks, we do one a project every one or two years. In 2015 or 2016, there was the countywide millage that was passed for roads, and 20% of it went to trails, so that helped accelerate the private side. We also partnered with a non-profit called HWPI, Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative, and they had connections with the Ralph Wilson fund. So we now have private money and public money. So now, we're able to do two or three projects or one large project a year versus having to wait two or three years to save up enough money because some of these project segments are 3, 4 5 even $8 million for each segment, so, back in the day, when we didn't have a whole lot of money. But now, we have money from multiple sources, so we're able to do more segments with additional money and the local millage money and then private money. So really, at the end of the day, it was additional funds, and the community, residents of Washtenaw County, have definitely supported the millage for this. I mean, 70% of the people vote in favor. Because I think, as you say, a lot of people use these trails. I think we have counters, pedestrian counters, and cyclists. In some segments, like 400 to 600,000 people each year use these Border-To-Border Trails.
Rebekah Warren: That's incredible! Just getting folks out there to enjoy what Washtenaw County has to offer is amazing! And one of my favorite parts of this place we are in this project was the decision to restore the historic Bell Road Bridge instead of replacing it or just getting rid of it. Can you tell us a little bit of the story about how that decision was made?
Roy Townsend: Yes. So, in 1997, nearly 26, 27 years ago, Washtenaw Road Commission had the Bell Road Bridge on Bell Road, which is the road just north of North Territorial, north of Hudson Mills, up there in Dexter Township, and it was falling into the river. And so, the county's road commission hired a contractor to take it off and set it next to the road. And it was too small. It no longer spanned the Huron River because now, it's only 103 feet long. We need a lot longer bridge, so it was set aside and trying to find a location, trying to find location. And, in 2018, the Road Cpmmission and County Parks partnered and said, "Hey, we'll pay 50/50 to take this thing apart, this historic bridge, hire this company out of St. John's Michigan that does historic bridge restoration." They take it apart. It's like a giant Erector set, a bunch of bolts. They label everything. And at that point, we really still didn't have a location, but they just made sense like, "Hey! Let's preserve this because we're going to find a location." Then, about three years ago as we're working on the Border-To-Border, they said, "You know, a location that would be great is Mill Creek because Mill Creek is a lot smaller than the Huron River." So, we explored the opportunity, and sure enough, hey, it's going to work! So, we hired Boismier to start doing the restoration on it. So now, the restoration is probably like 90% complete. They still are putting together rivets and putting it together, fixing everything and painting it. So later, probably in August, it's going to be sent down from St. John's in pieces. And then, we'll assemble it and put it back together and put it across the Mill Creek, just in basically the city of Dexter. An interesting component of that is Judge Dexter was involved when the town of Dover, which is where Bell Road was. There's a little town called Dover that really doesn't exist anymore, but he helped found it because there was a mill there back in the 1850s And then, in 1890, is when they put Bell Road Bridge in Dover to cross the Huron River. So, it's sort of interesting, something that Judge Dexter when he developed the community or the village of Dover and then bringing it back to Dexter. So, we're fortunate here in Washtenaw County. This will be our third historic bridge. We got Maple/Foster in Ann Arbor Township. We got Delhi in Scio Township. And then, we'll have this one. These are true trust bridges at 130 years old, all in Washtenaw County that people can appreciate and utilize when they're in use. This one is just for pedestrians. But, obviously, Delhi and Maple/Foster, people can drive across those and still enjoy them. So, yes, we're very fortunate!
Rebekah Warren: Roy, thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing the work that's happening to connect communities while protecting the natural places that make Washtenaw County so special! Projects like the Border-To-Border Trail remind us that environmental stewardship isn't simply about preserving landscape. It's also about thoughtfully designing the places where people and nature meet, whether restoring a historic bridge, protecting wetlands with elevated boardwalks or reconnecting communities through safer transportation options. The choices we're making will shape both our environment and the quality of our life for generations to come. For more information about our conversation today, please visit our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it here every Wednesday. I'm Rebekah Warren, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU. Ypsilanti.
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