Zorn applauds Sterling State Park improvement project
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LANSING — State Sen. Dale Zorn on Wednesday applauded the inclusion of a project at Sterling State Park in Monroe County in the first round of funding from a state infrastructure funding bill signed into law in March.
“Our state parks are valuable assets to Michigan — attracting tourists and providing families with outstanding opportunities to have fun outdoors,” said Zorn, R-Onsted. “I was happy to have been involved in local discussions to secure the funding for Sterling State Park, which will be one of the first parks to receive support from the historic state park infrastructure funding we approved earlier this year to help make long-term improvements that will benefit Michigan families for generations.”
Senate Bill 565, now Public 53 of 2022, invests $4.7 billion in making critical improvements to the state’s infrastructure. The act includes over $1.7 billion to help communities improve their drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, nearly $317 million to fix aging roads and bridges, $200 million for local park improvements and $250 million to make infrastructure upgrades at state parks.
The Department of Natural Resources has announced that Sterling State Park’s Heritage Trail will get $425,000 to stabilize the riverbank in preparation for resurfacing the trail. This is the first phase of an improvement project that will leverage federal funding to improve the slowly eroding embankment between the river and marsh lagoon. An additional $3.57 million is proposed in later phases for further investments in erosion control.
The improvement was one of 11 “shovel-ready” state park projects identified by the DNR for the first round of funding. The other state park projects in the first phase are in Bay, Cheboygan, Delta, Iosco, Mackinac, Ontonagon, Saginaw, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Zorn applauds Sterling State Park improvement project
