$500K to improve accessibility of Michigan’s national parks

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Three projects to make Michigan’s national parks more accessible and ecologically friendly received $500,000 in grand funding Monday.

ADASTEC received $250,000 for an automated electric bus to transport passengers around the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. ADASTEC is the same company that has previously employed automated buses at Michigan State University.

The Michigan Department of National Resources received $10,000 to deploy off-road track wheelchairs at Muskallonge Lake State Park , which will allow people with disabilities better access to outdoor recreational services. This is part of an ongoing effort to make Michigan’s outdoor parks more wheelchair accessible.

Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy received $240,000 to install electric vehicle charging ports in the communities near the Keweenaw National Historical Park and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. This will increase electric vehicle access to the area.

This is the first round of funding for the National Park Service Mobility Challenge Program, which is a challenge issued to the global mobility industry to deploy advanced mobility and electrification technologies to improve accessibility, visitor experience, and environmental conservation in Michigan’s state and national parks.

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