Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable..

Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable.

Beach-goers take to Traverse City State Park Beach in Traverse City on July 28.

A motorist pulls into a parking spot at Traverse City State Park Beach in Traverse City on Tuesday.

Beach-goers take to Traverse City State Park Beach in Traverse City on July 28.

A motorist pulls into a parking spot at Traverse City State Park Beach in Traverse City on Tuesday.

TRAVERSE CITY — High waters that flooded the playground in Traverse City State Park’s day use area have receded, but the park’s needs for improvements remain.

State parks across Michigan need fixes, too. Ron Olson, the Department of Natural Resources’ chief of parks and recreation, figures the maintenance backlog nears $300 million. It’s why he and other state officials are calling a major investment of federal money a once-in-a-generation chance to catch up on that backlog.

“It’s a legacy investment, to say the least, because we’ve been making progress at many of the parks... but we were behind nearly $300 million in our infrastructure,” he said. “And you know, while we made some strides, then other things would come up, then we had some bad storms and different things, and high water impacts.”

Traverse City State Park, with its sprawling modern campground on one side of U.S. 31 and a sandy beach and day use area on the other, stands to get $6.4 million for three projects, Olson said.

That’s a slice of $250 million in American Rescue Plan Act money that state lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer agreed in March to put toward the state’s recreational assets, according to a release from the DNR.

Interlochen State Park, situated between Green and Duck lakes and with camping on both shores, will get $3.57 million for three projects of its own, according to the DNR.

Both parks are set for major updates, DNR Parks and Recreation District Supervisor Kasey Mahoney said.

In Traverse City, the park’s pump-out station for recreational vehicles can’t handle the number of campsites there, she said. So while replacing and expanding it, planners will reconfigure the roads, relocate the contact station where campers check in, and shifting the entrance to make more room for them to wait.

“Very regularly on Friday nights we have some vehicles stack out into U.S. 31 and cause some backups on the highway, so those are the types of issues we’re trying to solve,” she said.

Mahoney said the park’s headquarters will also be rebuilt.

Plans for the park’s beach and day use area are still in the early stages, Mahoney said. But for now they include reconfiguring that driveway as well to make it safer, and assessing other needs — expanded parking and repairing a seawall, for example.

Olson said the day use area should get a general sprucing up, and Mahoney said a consultant will help take current conditions into stock and draft more exact plans.

The work will build on recent improvements to the park’s shower buildings and electrical system, Olson said.

Projects at Interlochen State Park will also piggyback on improvements there, said park Supervisor Chris Bush. He just started at what’s officially dubbed the state’s oldest state park, and agreed it’s exciting to see the projects unfold.

The park got a new wastewater treatment plant two years ago, but a sewage lift station and the sewer lines themselves date to the park’s older lagoon system, Bush said. One project will replace that lift station, pumps in which broke over the winter.

Mahoney said the park’s water and sewer lines throughout are also due for a replacement, as is the electrical system for the south campground. The new system will offer power levels better suited for modern vehicles.

Plus, every space will get a pedestal, compared to the current setup that has around four sharing one, Bush said.

A bathhouse at the park’s beach needs accessibility upgrades, Olson said — the steps there show how the department, while fixing aging facilities to keep them running, can’t so easily address accessibility issues.

The workaround at Interlochen State Park is an accessible portable toilet near the beach bathhouse, Bush said.

“It’s not the most ideal situation to have for someone that has a disability, so we’re hoping to be able to make those improvements and make it so that the plumbing and everything gets upgraded in there as well,” he said.

It’s the last bathroom or shower facility at the park that doesn’t have some accessible accommodations, Mahoney said. The same building pulls triple duty, with a concession stand and indoor teaching space.

Bush said the projects will improve the overall camping experience, and Mahoney said they’ll make it easier on park employees as well.

“It’s the infrastructure management that ends up taking a lot of our staff time, and it is certainly a service that we want our customers to be able to rely on,” she said.

Electrical work at Interlochen should start in the fall once the camping season is over, with water and sewer system upgrades next and upgrading the bathhouse after that, Mahoney said.

In Traverse City, work at the state park likely won’t begin until 2024.

Mahoney said the best construction season aligns all too well with the camping season. But planners will do their best to keep construction from impacting the parks’ seasons. That could mean closing early one fall, then opening late the following spring at Traverse City State Park, for example — the details are still in the works, she said.

“We understand that these recreation seasons are already short enough, and really, trying to preserve that for our customers is very important to us,” she said.

The Betsie Valley Trail is also getting a $1.3 million bridge rehabilitation project, according to the DNR.

Those are just a handful of projects out of 186 listed for parks and trails around the state. Plus, up to $30.2 million is set aside for a new state park in Flint.

Getting so much funding at once helps the department realize some efficiencies by planning several projects at once, Mahoney said. That saves on mobilization costs by dispatching a contractor for several projects instead of just one, for example.

It also breaks a cycle where the DNR was spending roughly $15 million a year on its massive maintenance backlog, Olson said. Catching up was impossible because past fixes continue to age — some work from the 2000s already needs attention, he said.

The investment means the department can keep better pace with its infrastructure needs, as newer facilities are easier and less expensive to maintain, Olson said. Ensuring the DNR is on a sustainable path to maintain its parks in the future will be an ongoing challenge, especially as revenues from user fees can fluctuate.

But use in the past three years has surged 30 percent and numbers for camping and lodging — the recreation division’s biggest source of revenue — are strong as well, Olson said.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct a reporter's error misspelling Kasey Mahoney's first name. Aug. 24, 2022

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