Work is about to begin on Phase II of Whirlpool’s Lakeview Bike Trail in the Benton Harbor area. Whirlpool’s Deb O’Connor tells us Phase I was the 5.5 mile bicycle trail near the company’s corporate headquarters on the east side of M-63, completed this past summer. Starting next week, construction starts on the west side of the road.
“There will be 2.5 to 3 miles of trail, and there will be more of a focus on jumps and features, but the outer loop will be rider-friendly to all levels, while the jumps will be toward the middle,” O’Connor said. “So, it will be more advanced riders, but it will still be rider friendly to all levels.”
O’Connor says Whirlpool wants to encourage healthy living for its employees and the community, and that’s why the trails are open to the public. After Phase One of the Lakeview Trail opened last summer, Whirlpool saw around 150 people out there riding every day. A tunnel is being built under M-63 to connect the east and west portions of the trail, and that work will have part of the road closed starting Monday through May.
