Clinton River Trail to be repaired in Rochester thanks to grant funding

ROCHESTER — The Clinton River Trail will soon be restored in Rochester after torrential downpours last year caused washouts in two separate sections.

The city of Rochester has secured more than $1.7 million in grant funding to restore two major washouts on the Clinton River Trail. The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation awarded the city a leading gift of $1.2 million to support the effort and an additional $521,000 from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Trail Maintenance Endowment at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

The largest damaged area in need of restoration — near the great blue heron rookery west of Dequindre Road — has kept a portion of the trail closed since July 2024, when a storm created a 100-foot-long, 12-foot-deep gap in the trail. As a result, a stretch of trail over a mile long has been closed between Rochester Junction — the pathway at the north entrance of Bloomer Park — and Dequindre Road while the city’s engineer assessed the damage and conducted preliminary engineering. A detour route is in place, directing users north on Letica from the trailhead parking lot, east on Parkdale, and south on Dequindre Road to rejoin the trail.

Rochester Director of Project Management Jason Warner said the disruption has not only affected trail access, but has also impacted the nearby blue heron rookery.

“I know it has been over a year, but we hope people understand that we are actively working toward a solution. We want to get the trail open as quickly as we can, but we have to follow the proper processes so it’s a lasting repair,” he said.

Warner said construction can’t begin until the state of Michigan approves the final plans and issues the necessary permits. After final engineering plans are completed, he said, the project will be bid, and construction could begin in the late fall or early winter, weather permitting.

East of the Diversion Street Trailhead is another area of the trail in need of repair, this time, due to riverbank erosion caused by heavy currents from the downpours.

“There’s a coned barricade around this washout, but that part is still passable at the moment,” Warner explained.

JJ Tighe, the senior director of parks and trails at the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, said the Clinton River Trail is one of the most heavily utilized trails in southeast Michigan, adding that this project really shows what’s possible when local leaders, volunteers, funders and nonprofits come together with a shared goal.

“The repairs are a long-term investment in the Clinton River Trail, the communities it connects, and its place in southeast Michigan’s regional trail network,”  Tighe said in a statement. “We’re proud to support a solution that protects the Blue Heron nesting habitat and repairs this trail that connects so many people and businesses in the region.”

The grants are being matched by funds from the city of Rochester and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and private donations made to the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester and the Friends of the Clinton River Trail.

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan President and CEO Nicole Sherard-Freeman said this section of trail is “a vital link in a larger trail system that gives everyone who uses it access to a higher quality of life and the health benefits that come from spending time outdoors.”

“We take our role in this community problem-solving effort very seriously and are proud to help restore this beloved public space for users to enjoy — when it reopens and far into the future,” she said in a statement.

Rochester City Manager Nik Banda said the city has heard the outcry from residents eager to see the trail repaired and reopened. Especially because the closed segment also impacts two cross-state trails, the Great Lake-to-Lake Trail Route #1 and the Iron Belle Trail-Biking Route.

“These are massive projects and the expected repair costs are far beyond what the city alone is able to budget,” Banda said in a statement. “Trail users and the city are all thankful for our partners who have stepped forward so quickly to address the need.”

For more information, visit www.clintonrivertrail.org.