Those of you who have visited Ovid in the past couple of weeks will have noticed that something is obviously planned for the boat ramp area. On the ground near the ramp are several stacks of large concrete slabs. This morning, Hemi and I also saw a large pile of stones in the parking lot.
On my way out, I stopped at the park booth and asked the attendant if she knew what was going on. She said they are going to make the ramp wider and add another dock, and they may do something with the parking area. She also said there will be a new entrance for boaters on that side of the lake. 😯 That was about all she knew, and there were cars pulling up on the other side of her booth, so I left it at that.
Does anyone know more about this? Next time I'm there, I'll try to get more information.
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Aha! I just found a short press release about the ramp, but it says nothing about a new entrance: <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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Hopefully this won't cause problems for us on the day of the outing.
"hemichemi" said:
Cool! More than the ramp improvements, I look forward to a boater entrance. That 3.5-mi trip around the lake is a drag at any time, but especially this time of year when the unpaved parts are like a bombed-out runway.
I agree! I don't see why they don't just keep the "night" entrance open at all times.
I was there yesterday morning when the DNR construction crew rolled up, and I talked briefly to who I think was the foreman:
1. The entire launch facility has been re-designed and will be completely re-done, parking lot and everything.
2. There will be two piers at the widened launch, which they started working on yesterday, expanding toward the east side. The concrete slabs will be extended farther up the ramp than before.
3. I asked about a new entrance and he confirmed it being on Price road but said he wasn't paying too much attention to the details of that except to say he thought it was "over thataway", pointing toward where Price crosses the south end of the lake.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2009
Contacts: Tim Machowicz 517-651-6217 or Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014
Open House Scheduled for July 15 on Redevelopment of the Lake Ovid Boating Access Site at Sleepy Hollow State Park
The Department of Natural Resources will host an open house on Wednesday, July 15, at Sleepy Hollow State Park in Laingsburg to allow the public to review and comment on a draft plan to redevelop the Lake
Ovid Boating Access site in the park.
The open house will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at Sleepy Hollow State Park in the Lake Ovid boat concession building, adjacent to the existing boat launch. Sleepy Hollow State Park is located at 7835 Price Rd. in Laingsburg.
Individuals are welcome to visit the site at that time, view the draft plan and ask DNR staff questions and provide input.
"This project will include installation of a new boat launch entrance road, separate from the main park entrance, reconfiguration of the parking area to improve accessibility and parking, and a launch area for canoes and kayaks to improve public boating access to Lake Ovid,” said Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.
This project is funded through the Michigan State Waterways Fund, a restricted fund derived from boat registration fees and a portion of the Michigan marine fuel tax for the construction, operation and maintenance of recreational boating facilities, harbors and inland waterways.
If you have questions about the meeting or the draft plan, or persons with disabilities needing accommodations to attend this meeting, contact DNR Park Supervisor Tim Machowicz at 517-651-6217 at least five business days before the meeting.
The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations.
Funny! These were posted at the ramp today:
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I LOVE the idea of a new entrance on Price road! They have questionnaire sheets for public comments there at the launch, too.
It looks like the set-up will be pretty much the same, with a slightly modified tie-up lane design, and much more parking:
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Here's the questionnaire. If you have suggestions or comments, send them to the address shown or perhaps call the number. I asked to have the new entrance open 24/7/365 because I'm tired of driving 3.5 miles around the lake through the bomb craters when I know there an entrance that can cut 95% of it out…
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"Duke" said:
They better be getting barack bucks for this BS. "We could just use the existing roads already in place and have it functional today and repave the busted up road, orrr we could spend a million more dollars and create all new stuff that accomplishes the same thing!!??" Hmm
Hmmm… the money is coming from:
"Michigan State Waterways Fund, a restricted fund derived from boat registration fees and a portion of the Michigan Marine Fuel Tax, for the construction, operation and maintenance of recreational boating facilities, harbors, and inland waterways".
So the money was gathered for just these purposes.
The intention (as I was told by the foreman doing the ramp re-pavement in May) is to close the road around the lake beyond the beach/horse parking lots. And doing it this way (moving the boating entrance to Price road) makes directional signage routing traffic to SH less complicated.
But would it really be less expensive to re-pave ~1.5 miles of road (1/2-way around the lake from the ramp to the end of the bomb craters to the east of the dam) or create this new entrance which is roughly 1/4-mi long? Either way the parking lot was getting repaved, and made handicapper-friendly.
Talked to one of the park rangers today; he said the new entrance will be open 24/7. I also asked why the current night entrance wasn't being used instead, and he said it was that the sight-distance on Shepardsville road right there is terrible and wouldn't be safe enough to support all the boating traffic. It's OK for low-traffic hours, but not at busier times of day. Putting a new entrance on Price within sight of the stop sign at Shepardsville and after the speed-bumps for westbound traffic was thought to be safest. Boaters leaving the Park will have slow traffic and good sight-distance in both directions.
"hemichemi" said:
the sight-distance on Shepardsville road right there is terrible and wouldn't be safe enough to support all the boating traffic.
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I went to the open house yesterday. A guy from the DNR said the same thing, and he added that the Clinton County Road Commission would not allow them to use the existing access road. The Road Commission gave them two options: the planned location on Price, or farther north on Shepardsville, right at the crest of the hill.
Update:
Construction of the new access road has started. I just spoke to Sleepy Hollow Park personnel and the plan is to have the renovations (new access road, expanded and resurfaced parking lot, handicapper access, etc.; see the picture of the plan in my previous post) complete by mid-May.
Unfortunately, it means the launch will be closed for a period, which will most likely include the season opening, according to them.
I will GREATLY APPRECIATE not having to drive around the lake anymore, though!
As of Monday 3/15 they had the trail bulldozed through the woods and were attemping to make a mud bog pit out of the new pass, I think. But I'm sure the launch will not be closed, you just need to have the right tow vehicle!!
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