U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) met with local officials in Pinckney today to discuss federal funds her office secured for projects identified by local leaders as priorities.
Slotkin successfully advocated for $2 million in direct federal funding to complete a “multi-modal pathway” along Dexter-Pinckney Road. This funding, long sought after by the village of Pinckney and Putnam Township, will create a safe walkway along a main thoroughfare that will connect two schools, several subdivisions, Main Street (M36) and the LakeLands Trail.
“‘Have a good day’ takes on new meaning when it starts with your congressional representative calling you about $2 million funding that was awarded to your community for a high-priority project,” said Rebecca Foster, president of the Village of Pinckney. “We’ve been working alongside Putnam Township for years to find funding for a safe pedestrian route along the road to Pinckney Community High School.”
“Kids were literally playing Frogger to get across the road. There’s no safe path. There’s no way for them to get across. They were just kind of risking it,” Slotkin said. “It’s not Democrat; it’s not Republican; kids just need to get across a busy street and be safe.”
Pinckney Police Chief Jeffrey Newton said everyone came together in a coordinated way “that you don’t see often.”
“From the safety point it’s obvious,” Newton said. “There’s an old adage that if it’s predictable, it’s preventable, and this sort of thing will go simply miles for the prevention side of any kind of injury.”
Chuck Dennison of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said the agency was pleased the project will connect to the Lakelands Trail State Park.
“We envisioned this happening when we built this trail through these communities,” Dennison said. “(The trail) will be the core trail pathway and we’d have these connector trails that will serve the community, provide transportation needs, get kids off the streets, and be safer for the natural environment.”
Slotkin said the project focused on something that brought people together, that everyone could agree on, regardless of politics.
“I feel really proud that we have local representatives who are Republicans; we have Independents, and I’m a Democrat, and we all didn’t care one iota about that and just got this project done for kids’ safety,” Slotkin said. “That’s how government is supposed to work.”
