Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Equity Trail Connector

Spicer Group assisted Jackson County by providing the design, survey, grant administration, and construction administration for a new path that connects Sparks Foundation County Park to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Equity Trail. Jackson County was awarded a $173,500 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund to help fund the project. The new path is located through a natural setting that includes uplands, wooded areas, and wetlands. It provides access to a natural area and wildlife viewing opportunities in an otherwise urban setting.

The quarter-mile long trail connector also includes a 300-foot-long wooden boardwalk that traverses through a wetland area. The permanent, elevated, open pile boardwalk is built on 30 sets of concrete helical piers that are embedded at an average depth of four feet below the existing wetland grade. The boardwalk is attached to the trail by concrete headwalls at either end. It also has a 12-foot wide and five-foot long observation deck, located at the boardwalk’s midpoint. This boardwalk allows the path to safely traverse through the wetlands area without disturbing the natural habitat.