History

History of the Treeline

From its humble beginnings as the Allen Creek Urban Trail to the multi-mile pathway it is today, read below to gain a better understanding of the evolving scope of the Treeline project.

The Treeline Conservancy is advancing the development of the Treeline, a planned biking and walking trail through the heart of Ann Arbor.  The Treeline is a transformative idea that will connect people and places across the city. The Treeline will provide safe, non-motorized recreation and travel in addition to addressing flooding issues associated with Allen Creek, a buried stream named after one of Ann Arbor’s founders. Originally called the Allen Creek Greenway, the idea for an urban trail and stormwater management improvements to the Allen Creek corridor has been discussed for decades and gained a great amount of community support throughout the years. Today, the Treeline Conservancy is leading the effort, in collaboration with the City of Ann Arbor, to bring the concept to life and is making great strides.

The Treeline Conservancy is both established and new. A volunteer organization founded in 2007, the Conservancy marked its third year with professional staff in early 2023. 

‍Beginnings: The Treeline Conservancy began as a volunteer organization, the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy, around 2000. Led by Ann Arbor builder Joe O’Neal, the group achieved 501(c)3 status in 2007. The Conservancy and a group of supportive downtown neighbors, Friends of the Allen Creek Greenway, captured the imagination of many Ann Arborites with their dream of replacing the now-blighted alignment of the buried historic creek with a beautiful and useful trail. Throughout the 2000s, the Allen Creek Greenway figured prominently in a dozen feasibility studies, student projects, and plans for transportation, recreational open space, and floodway management.

‍2011-2017: In 2011, Ann Arbor’s City Council passed a resolution in support of advancing the Allen Creek Greenway initiative. In 2015, the city dedicated resources to take the next step of the Allen Creek Greenway initiative by developing a Master Plan. This was an extensive, multi-year process facilitated by Smithgroup that involved a high level of public engagement. In December 2017 Ann Arbor’s City Council unanimously adopted the Treeline Master Plan into the city’s overall Master Plan, which is the city’s document that sets the policy direction for future land use. 

‍2018-2019: Since the adoption of the Treeline Master Plan, which received a Planning Excellence Award for Transportation Planning from the Michigan Chapter of the American Planning Association in 2019, representatives from the city, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and the Treeline Conservancy formed the Treeline Build Team (TBT) and have been working together to move the Treeline Master Plan and coordinating projects towards realization. With the conceptual route formalized and the backing of city government and the input of community residents, the Treeline began to garner substantial financial support. A donor made a restricted gift for the purchase of a parcel along the Treeline route in 2018. With the help of new board members, the Treeline Conservancy’s operating revenue increased eightfold in 2018, thanks to major donors who supported the production of a promotional video and the Treeline’s intention to hire an executive director. A first financial review by an audit firm was conducted in this year. Additional funds for the trail were awarded to the City of Ann Arbor as well, including a grant from the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission for an alignment study for the route between Argo Dam and the west side of N. Main Street. 

‍2020: The first executive director of the Treeline Conservancy began work exactly one month before the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. While plans for events were scrapped and face-to-face fundraising efforts altered, 2020 was in other ways a successful year. Administrative and financial infrastructure was strengthened with the creation and adoption of employment policies, and updated bylaws. A contract employee was brought on as a regular part-time staff member, and a payroll system and health insurance reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) were inaugurated. An annual report was published, and strategic planning got underway. With Rails, Trails and Conservation Assistance from the National Park Service awarded to the City, a draft operations and maintenance manual for the eventual trail was drafted. The City of Ann Arbor and the Downtown Development Authority opened two important non-motorized projects in 2020 that serve as branches of the Treeline: 1.) The Allen Creek Berm Tunnel under the MDOT railroad at Argo Dam, allowing safe pedestrian/bike passage from Depot Street to the Border-to-Border Trail; and 2.) A 0.5 mile, two-way bikeway on First Street—in the top ten of the People For Bikes “America’s Best New Bikeways of 2020.”

‍2021: Three new Treeline Conservancy board members brought expertise in finance, trails funding, and nonprofit leadership. Community volunteers assisted in the creation of a Test Trail through a City lot at 415 West Washington designated for the Treeline route, assisting with public events on the site. The waning of the pandemic brought the return of other outdoor events, notably the Mayor’s Green Fair, where the Treeline could engage with citizens interested in active transportation and environmental sustainability.  The alignment study was completed, ruling out one potential route and recommending further study of two others. The City initiated a Phase I Environmental Study for these two potential routes. Of these options, the Treeline board adopted the alignment utilizing the Allen Creek Berm Tunnel as its working hypothesis for planning purposes. Ann Arbor’s new city manager engaged with the Treeline early in his tenure. With the advent of abundant Federal infrastructure funding, the Treeline Conservancy engaged a lobbying firm to advise and advocate for the project. 

‍2022: Advocacy at the state and local level increased as well in 2022 with a concerted effort to inform new and continuing City Council members of the need for funds to build the Treeline and to support city staff assigned to the project. The city manager included the Treeline in his infrastructure agenda as a target for Federal and State funds available to the municipality. Community involvement with the Test Trail segment grew, with two clean-up days, soil remediation, and native species planting projects engaging new volunteers. The Treeline also participated in four community events. Meetings with a key state legislator and MDOT and Amtrak officials were crucial steps toward approval for the Treeline’s preferred alignment at the Allen Creek Berm Tunnel. Planning began for a demonstration “pocket park” and trail segment at a Treeline-owned site, 410 Miller Avenue, and for the completion of a short alternate route segment through Kingsley Condominiums between Felch St. and the First Street Bikeway.

2023: Collaboration with key stakeholders brought the realization of the “North Segment” crossing of N. Main Street closer. This alignment is a continuation of the trail emerging from the new Allen Creek Berm Tunnel, running parallel to the MDOT/Amtrak rail line to the 900 block of N. Main Street, at which point the trail will become elevated to cross that thoroughfare on an attractive bridge. Amtrak agreed to consider a formal proposal, which was submitted. INFORM Studio began to prepare preliminary concept renderings for the elevated trail and bridge. The City funded the completion of an environmental study of all relevant properties along Main Street. The Kingsley Condominiums segment was completed. For the central trail segment, Johnson Hill Land Ethics Studio drafted an elevation study of the proposed bridge crossing of Miller. A parcel necessary to create a connector to West Park was acquired. At the Test Trail between Washington and Liberty, more native species plants were planted, and art projects for the entrances entered the design phase. People for Bikes granted partial funding for test pavement through the site.Progress on the southern segment included the University of Michigan’s intention to construct a multi-use path generally coinciding with the hoped-for Treeline route through the athletic campus. Advocacy efforts continued at local, state, and national levels. The City of Ann Arbor and the Treeline collaborated on applications to Senators Peters and Stabenow for discretionary funding in the Federal FY24 budget.