Berrien County to pursue $4 million RAISE grant to connect Buchanan and Niles trails

Marcy Hamilton, a presenter working with the county’s trail partners, told the Berrien County Board of Commissioners that county staff plan to seek a roughly $4,000,000 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build a non‑motorized trail link between Buchanan and Niles. The board was asked to authorize Berrien County to be the applicant; the application deadline discussed is Jan. 30.

The request matters because the proposed segment would close a longstanding gap between the McCoy’s Creek Trail in Buchanan and the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail in Niles, providing a continuous, safer route for bicyclists and pedestrians and extending regional connections that reach south to South Bend and north toward the Lakeshore system. Hamilton said the project scored well in the state review for safety and competitiveness.

Hamilton described the proposed route as running along Walton Road (a county road) and said the portion the county would pursue in the grant runs from River St. Joe Brewery in Buchanan to Wind Road, where a small trailhead is planned. She said the city of Buchanan recently approved a contract to build the piece from the city limits to the brewery and that a groundbreaking is expected this spring for that segment. Hamilton said Whiteman and Associates prepared current cost estimates and that an inflation factor was added to arrive at the ~$4 million figure.

Hamilton said the grant would be sought with no local match required: "So this is really exciting… it'll be about a $4,000,000 grant with no local match, amazing, from the US Department of Transportation," she told commissioners. County staff emphasized the county would pursue the grant only with formal maintenance agreements in place with the local units that would maintain each segment. Hamilton and county staff said Niles Township is preparing a maintenance resolution and that the city of Buchanan has agreed to maintain the segment it will build.

County staff said the formal step before the full board is a draft resolution to the administration committee that would authorize the county to submit the RAISE application and state the acceptance of any award would be contingent on receipt of the required maintenance agreement(s) and that Berrien County would not be asked to provide a local match. The board discussion recorded here did not include a final vote on the authorization; staff said they were asking for permission to proceed with the application and would route a draft resolution through the administration committee.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff will send a draft resolution to the administration committee to authorize the county to apply, Niles Township was working on a maintenance resolution, and partners said they would pursue fundraising only if the federal award and estimates prove insufficient. Hamilton invited commissioners to upcoming project notices and a future ribbon cutting for Market Greenway segments.