Construction on a pedestrian tunnel connecting Bandemer Park and Barton Nature Area is planned to begin Summer of 2025. That’s after the Ann Arbor City Council finalized an agreement with Amtrak on the pathway.
Hillary Hanzel is a Park Planner and Landscape Architect with the City of Ann Arbor. She says the pedestrian tunnel along the Border-to-Border trail is a needed linkage for the trail.
“This project will allow for that pedestrian and non-motorized connection point, so that people can get from really the downtown Ann Arbor, westward towards Dexter and beyond. So, we’re really excited about it."
Construction has been delayed partly due to difficulties coordinating construction and track outage plans with Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation.
“What the project requires is a temporary track outage of the railroad. So, there’s a lot of moving pieces, a lot of partners we need to sign off on and get approval for those dates.”
Hanzel says the city is currently accepting construction proposals from contractors and hopes to make a final decision and release an updated timeline on the project in the coming weeks.
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