Grand River Greenway work continues, now possibly stretching to Lowell

Yahoo

11-05-2025

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Slowly but surely, the is taking shape. Work continues on the trail system, with five construction plans set for this year alone.
And while it seems like years since the project was announced, it is actually decades in the making and one that shows no sign of slowing down.
Sign up for the Storm Team 8 daily forecast newsletter
The Grand River Greenway is a path of land that follows the Grand River from the lakeshore in Grand Haven all the way to Grand Rapids. When it is all said and done, it is expected to offer at least 60 miles of trails, giving visitors a chance to take in West Michigan's natural beauty on foot, on bike and on boat.
The project was one of the first major goals of the Ottawa County Parks Commission when it . Two years later, the commission adopted its first ever Parks and Recreation plan, which introduced the Grand River Greenway.
The concept was a mission to protect the land around the Grand River and convert it into more recreational opportunities.
4 trail construction projects on tap for Ottawa County in 2025
'It started with, 'OK, let's get these properties, let's conserve this parkland, make sure we've got these individual parks for people to recreate throughout the county. And then let's get them connected,'' Jessica VanGinhoven of the Ottawa County Park & Recreation Commission .
Curt TerHaar, the coordinator of Park Planning and Development for Ottawa County Parks, told News 8 that the idea goes beyond simple parks.
'You have these blocks of land and they connected. That's better for plants and wildlife so they can move through the system. Conservation has always been a big part of it,' TerHaar told News 8. 'We really want to preserve the best natural spaces that are here in our area and manage them properly so that they remain healthy and vibrant.'
How Grand Rapids riverfront projects are aiming to reduce flooding risk
When the first Parks and Recreation plan was introduced, there were only two county parks along the Grand in Ottawa County: Riverside Park and Deer Creek Park. They constituted 38 acres of land and less than half a mile of riverfront.
By 1994, those numbers had jumped to more than 3,100 acres and more than 13 miles of riverfront, boosted primarily by the Bass River State Recreation Area — a converted gravel mine site purchased by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
A study for what we now know as the Grand River Greenway was completed and presented in 1995. After more than two decades of planning and the approval of a second park millage, the Grand River Greenway Project was officially launched in 2016 — building new trails and incorporating existing ones to connect Grand Haven and Grand Rapids.
Because of the wide breadth of the project, it needed to be parceled out and tackled in pieces, eating the apple one bite at a time.
Kent County Parks announces projects at 9 parks
'We're completing the project in segments,' VanGinhoven said. 'We really had to break it down to smaller pieces for a lot of reasons: to get funding, to work with landowners, to get easements. A lot of the trail goes through (county) property, but a lot of (other property owners) have worked together with us in order to make this a reality.'
TerHaar said easements are one of the biggest issues. Greenway planners have already acquired more than 60 of them in Ottawa County alone.
'Some people are all for it. We've had people donate the easement and that's awesome. Usually, we offer them fair market value for it. But some people are so happy to participate that they will do that,' TerHaar said. 'Other people are really hesitant. They have fears about what a public trail would mean for them. And sometimes it's very legitimate — if it's running really close to their house or whatever.'
The Grand River Greenway is currently comprised of — 11 of which reside in Ottawa County.
Starting from the lakeshore, the trail starts with the Grand Haven Boardwalk, which runs nearly 4 miles and connects to the Bayou trail segment. That trail runs 6 miles from Gidley Bayou to Connor Bayou in Robinson Township.
Michigan DNR verifies wild cougar cubs in U.P. for first time in decades
From there, the Odawa segment runs down North Cedar Drive, connecting to the Bass River trail segment at the State Recreation Area. The Bass River trail will be more than 7 miles in all and itself has been tackled in stretches.
The Bass River trail connects to the Bea Alderink Eastmanville Legacy trail at a trailhead near 68th Avenue in Allendale Township. From there, the greenway continues with the Allendale trail segment and the Versluis GVSU Campus segment, which runs through Grand Valley State University's campus and reconnects to the river at the Bill Idema Moraine Nature Trail.
The trail continues with the ninth segment, running from Grand River Park to Bend Area Park near Cottonwood Drive, followed by the Georgetown segment and the Jenison Mill segment, which runs to the county line. The existing Kent Trails pick up from there and roll through Johnson Park and then to Millennium Park.
The original plan was set to end at Millennium Park, but with so many nearby existing trail networks, planners figured there was no point in stopping there. Kent County is actively looking into proposals to expand the Greenway even further, possibly all the way to Lowell.
A Kent County spokesperson told News 8 that nothing is official and plans frequently change, but a does show proposed trail routes that would continue the Greenway to Lowell.
A proposed trail would use the River Edges Trail to connect Millennium Park to the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail. A trail would head east from there, through Rogue River Park and into Cannon Township, then south into Ada Township to connect with the Pettis Trails. A second proposed trail would pick up from there and follow the Grand River to Lowell.
Kent County has already approved three that are expected to be tackled this year. Ottawa County has .
New park coming to Plaza Roosevelt neighborhood in Grand Rapids
Kent County will start work on six of the seven segments of the proposed 8-mile connector trail, running from Rockford to the Pettis Trail in Ada Township. The county would also add a pedestrian tunnel under Northland Drive and a pedestrian bridge over the Grand River near Knapp Street.
Seven of Ottawa County's trail segments are done, which leaves four still to be completed: Bass River, Eastmanville, Allendale and Bend Area.
Work on the first three miles of the Bass River trail segment is expected to start later this year. The project, being done in partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, is expected to use $750,000 in funding from the state's Land and Water Conservation Fund to help cover costs.
Construction is also expected later this year on the Bea Alderink Eastmanville Legacy Trail. That project will use a $400,000 grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to help cover costs. That trail will be 2.3 miles long and include more than a half mile of riverfront. Construction is expected to start in the late fall.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.