Does a Bike Path Qualify as a Highway Use?

Does a bike path qualify as a highway use? That’s the question Charlevoix County Road Commissioner Pat Harmon asked regarding deed restrictions claimed by some residents who object to the proposed trail alongside the Boyne City to Charlevoix Road (C-56.) The residents claim that fifty year old restrictions on the right of way stipulate that the land can be used for “highway purposes only.”

This does not seem to be a case of the nay-saying residents claiming so called “adverse possession” because apparently they are not using the land in such a way that would justify limiting what the county government can do with it. Apparently in other parts of the state there have been some recent attempts by owners of property adjacent to trails to assume legal ownership of land that they have been using, thus their suits under “adverse possession.”

I’m no lawyer, but I think that this case may boil down to the road commissioner’s question. The Top of Michigan Trails Council is, of course, a major supporter of the proposed Boyne City to Charlevoix Trail and therefore opposed to any action by land owners that would rescind the previous action of the county commissioners in authorizing the trail.

It’s hard for me to see the landowners’ argument. As far as I can see they are not arguing for what they can do in the right of way but what the county can’t do. Sidewalks and bike paths exist alongside many highways and most funding for both comes from federal highway funds so it’s hard to say that they don’t represent a “highway use.” And would the owners rather have bicycles closer to their houses than another lane of cars and trucks?

The newspaper article that prompted this comment was from the 6/23 Petoskey News-Review.

Photo: the boardwalk under construction on the Little Traverse Wheelway near Charlevoix near the connection point of the planned Boyne City to Charlevoix Trail.