Bridges will help tie Davison city and township together

By Monica Dufour
INDEX Staff Writer
DAVISON TWP. — Davison Township Treasurer Pat Miller hopes to bridge the gap between the Davison Township’s Black Creek Nature Trail and the Jack N. Abernathy Park with the help of a couple of bridges donated by the city of Flint.

The bridges were formerly on the grounds of C.S. Mott’s Apple wood estate. They were originally going to be donated to the Kersey Park he said, but they didn’t meet the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements. Miller said Kay Kelly of the City of Flint said they would donate them to Davison Township.

Miller plans to place the two 50-ft. cement bridges side-by-side, so they would comply with the ADA and be accessible for bikers and walkers. “I would really like to connect with the city,” Miller said. “The bridges will help give us a way to incorporate both communities,” he said.

He said the city is supportive of the idea as well. City Manager Dale Martin said he was on board with the idea, Miller said.

The city and township could benefit greatly from the bridge idea, especially with events like Davison’s Festival of Flags (July 23-27), and Pumpkin Festival (Oct. 10- 11), Miller said. “With the additional space we could add additional service and attractions like a 5K race, which there isn’t room for right now,” he said. “Having such a race would be a great way to bring more people into the park,” he said.
Miller said more park space would also help with adding more area for things like soccer fields.
He has a couple of ideas as to where they could place the bridges, one is alongside the Wordier property; the other is alongside the air strip at the airport off Gale Road.

“We have a verbal agreement from the owners of the Wordier property, but we don’t have anything in writing yet,” he said.

Miller would rather be able to do the first choice, because they wouldn’t have to deal with the airplanes.

While plans still need a review and transportation of the bridges needs to be arranged, Miller hopes to have the bridges in place by Davison’s Pumpkin Festival (Oct. 10-11).