April 26, 2007 Meeting:
Parks, Recreation and Open Space Preservation Presentation

Amy Kuras, City of Ann Arbor

Department has always had a goal to acquire as much riparian land as possible
City has 210 acres of parks along the river, mostly natural areas (there are over 2000 acres of park land in the city)
The biggest project that would be related to the HRIMP is the improvement of Bandemer park, as well as issues related to erosion control and invasive species removal.
Longterm goal: to link pedestrian and nonmotorized transportation; paved trail along the entire river on one side of the river, while on the other side, a foot path would preserve the more natural corridor (while this is almost complete, some links need to be made around Argo, along Fuller Road/Park, and between the Broadway Bridge and Argo Dam, as well as from Bandemer to Barton Park under the railroad)
Remaining obstacles to riverside parks: railroad cuts off access in several places, the Railroad is even threatening to close existing crossings, constant effort to keep these crossing open
Important goal to balance recreation goals and preservation of natural areas
The PROS Plan discusses all of the greenway linkages the city is attempting to connect, including those along the creeks connecting to the Huron River