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Students in the Career Tech Welding Program at Northwest Educational Services on Parsons Road in Traverse City capped off their school year with a successful educational project for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources that helps keep users of the North Central State Trail safe.
The students began the task of building special railroad gates for the traffic units in Otsego County. The gates are designed to allow non-motorized users (people on foot, bicycle or horseback) to pass through a small gap in the center and prevent illegal vehicular traffic. During the winter, the gates are fully opened to allow snowmobile and garage traffic to pass through unhindered.
The test
In partnership with Lake State Railroad and several state, county and local partnerships, the DNR extended the North Central Trail (part of the Iron Belle Trail from Detroit, Michigan to Ironwood) into Otsego County in 2019.
Within an active rail corridor 75 miles from the Otsego/Crawford County line, the trail to Mackinaw City is open to non-motorized traffic such as walking, bicycling, and horseback riding in the summer and snowmobiling in the winter. Hard-packed limestone surfaces are specifically selected for durability and performance in both applications, but are not designed or intended for off-road vehicle use.
Paige Perry, recreational trail specialist for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, said after the trail was completed, many people began reporting that properties near the trail had added to their property.
“This repeated violation threatens miles of connected, snowmobile-only trail, as it forces private landowners to reconsider their land leases, endangers the safety of trail users and severely damages the pavement,” Perry said. “We are committed to solving the problem in the safest and fastest way possible.”
The solution
The DNR has partnered with the Onaway Institute of Industrial Arts to build a supply of gates for other North Central, Northeast and Northwest state railroads – which have experienced similar breaches and failed tests.
The goal of the program is to replace existing, aging trail bollards—slender vertical posts often placed in the middle to limit vehicle access—upgraded with a new gate design on the bollards. Committed to replacing bollards at the institute’s gates, DNR saw an opportunity to partner with Career Tech, a career and technical school serving more than 20 high schools, Northwest Education Services (“NorthEd”). To meet the growing needs of the five-county Grand Traverse area, in and around the City of Gaylord.
“We reached out to North Ed to talk about our needs, and Mark Stein, North Ed’s welding and fabrication technology instructor, spoke with the students,” said Forest Fire Officer Scott Thompson, who works out of the DNR’s Gaylord Field Office. . “The welding program offered to build smaller doors in a compressed time frame, with the same design.”
The state’s ORV Trail Improvement Fund paid for the raw materials, and the students got to work.
Thompson said the project gave students the opportunity to learn about design, layout, fabrication and welding, along with the satisfaction of solving a community problem. Under Stein’s guidance, the students completed the work in the last few days of the school year and finally delivered the high-quality doors on time.
Through additional partnerships between the DNR and the Gaylord Area Trails Council, gates will be installed at the busy intersection this summer. As needed, DNR will order additional door sets from North Ed for installation.
Northwest Education Services Vocational Tech provides training in 23 career areas using state-of-the-art technology and equipment. North Ed’s career tech and regional schools take great pride in preparing students for immediate job placement, postsecondary education, or military service. Learn more at Northwested.org/career_tech/.
More about Michigan Trails
For information on recreational trail opportunities across the state, visit Michigan.gov/DNRTrails.
The DNR continues to seek community support for its diverse network of trails in Michigan. Anyone interested in partnering to support these important recreation resources is encouraged to contact Michelle O’Kelly at OKallyM@Michigan.gov. You can also text “Trails” to 80888 or bookmark https://app.mobilecause.com/form/SOI3Zg?vid=qyibf to donate at any time of the year. Choose to support an area that needs it most or give to projects that fit your interests, such as ORV, water trails, equestrian, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and more.
Note to editors: Accompanying photos are available below for download. Caption information follows. Photo credit: Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
- WELDING: A student from Northwest Educational Services’ Career Tech Welding Program works on one of the trail gates being installed along the North Central State Trail in Osego County.
- Stein, students with gates: Northwestern Education Services Career Tech Welding Program instructor Mark Stein, right, stands with some of his welding students in front of the completed DNR trail gates.
- Example of Gates: A set of pre-installed gates, similar to those being installed along the North Central State Trail in Otsego County.
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