Leaders of Lawrence Technological University, along with dignitaries from the city of Southfield, Oakland County, and the state of Michigan formally cut the ribbon to open the City Centre Trail.
LTU photo / Matt Roush

SOUTHFIELD—The newest section of what has become a 7.75-mile system of walking and bicycle riding trails through the city of Southfield was dedicated Friday morning.

Officials of Lawrence Technological University and the city of Southfield, along with dignitaries from Oakland County and Michigan state government, cut the ribbon on the new City Centre Trail.

Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver noted that the entire trail system has been constructed since 2011. He said it’s part of an effort to “encourage walkability and pedestrian-friendly, non-motorized pathways” through Southfield—a city, he noted, originally built around the automobile.

Lawrence Tech President Virinder Moudgil said the trail is a symbol of greater cooperation between the University, the city, and major employers in the city such as Ascension Michigan, LTU’s partner in its nursing education and physician assistant studies programs. He also emphasized the city-university partnership that created the Centrepolis Accelerator, a manufacturing business incubator on LTU’s campus that now has hundreds of clients. “We are projecting an image of excellence,” Moudgil said.

The City Centre Trail starts and ends at the Southfield civic center at Evergreen Road and Civic Center Drive. It proceeds west through woods bordering an office complex to the Lodge Freeway, where it runs southeast past the Lawrence Tech campus and its Blue Devils Stadium to Evergreen Road, then north back to the civic center. The official City Centre Trail Tour Map lists 25 points of interest along the way, including numerous installations of public art.

Also speaking at the event were State Sen. Jeremy Moss and Southfield City Administrator Frederick E. Zorn. The project team on the trail included DiPonio Contracting Inc., JB Contractors Inc., Signgraphix, OHM Advisors, City Engineer Leigh Schultz, and City Planning Director Terry Croad.

 Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers nearly 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, and Engineering. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for the salaries of its graduates, and U.S. News and World Report lists it in the top tier of best Midwestern universities. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 100 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.