Timeline
History of the Treeline
The Treeline Conservancy is both established and new. A volunteer organization founded in 2007, the Conservancy first hired professional staff in 2020. 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.
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 worked 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. 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 was hired. With Rails, Trails and Conservation Assistance from the National Park Service awarded to the City, an 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 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: Community volunteers assisted in the creation of a Test Trail , (later named the Swift Trail) through a City lot at 415 West Washington designated for the Treeline route. 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.
2022: The city manager included the Treeline in his infrastructure agenda as a target for Federal and State funds available to the municipality. 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 Gateway 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. For the central Neighborhood Segment, Johnson Hill Land Ethics Studio drafted an elevation study of the proposed bridge crossing of Miller and aparcel necessary to create a connector to West Park was acquired. Progress on the southern segment included the University of Michigan's intention to construct a multi-use path, named Wolverine Way, along the proposed Treeline route starting at E Madison.
2024: The Treeline Conservancy shifted focus to the Gateway segment as its primary development priority. The University of Michigan continued construction on Wolverine Way, the southern segment running from E Madison Street past new student dormitories toward the athletic campus. Design and planning work advanced for the Neighborhood segment, including integration of the operational Swift Trail, which provides nesting habitat for Ann Arbor's chimney swift population. The City of Ann Arbor and the Treeline Conservancy continued collaboration on funding strategies and engineering requirements for the Gateway's signature bridge spanning North Main Street.
2025: Major milestones accelerated the Gateway's progression toward construction. In September, Ann Arbor City Council unanimously authorized a jointly sponsored Request for Proposal, (RFP) to engage an engineering firm for the Gateway's design. In October, the State of Michigan awarded a $1 million grant—the largest single public commitment to date—covering roughly one-third of the estimated $2.8 million needed to develop final design blueprints. The Treeline Conservancy began working with City administrators to publish the RFP and begin a global search for world-class engineering talent. A comprehensive fundraising campaign was launched to secure remaining project funding from private and institutional donors.