Ada Township Trails: What's Open and What's Ahead This Fall 2026

Ada Township's trail system covers more than 25 miles, and its Fall 2026 update lists five trail projects. A sixth, a county-led trail on Pettis Avenue, runs into the township from the north. Three are finished. One is due in late November. One has a 2027 finish date that depends on which agency you ask. The last and shortest is held up by a railroad easement.

The pattern behind those dates is simple. The trails inside Ada are in better shape this fall than they have been in years. The links that would tie Ada to its neighbors across the Grand River are mostly still under construction. For the coming winter, the network is finished at its center and incomplete at its edges.

Six projects, four finish lines

The center of the network is finished

The Thornapple River Pedestrian Bridge is the piece most visible from the village. It runs along the north side of Thornapple River Drive. According to Grand River Network, it links Legacy Park and downtown Ada to the township's trail network and to a future eastern extension of the Greenway. The township's Fall 2026 update describes two 50-foot sections on either side of a 170-foot centerpiece. Grand River Network lists the budget at about $2.5 million, paid for by the Ada trail millage, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and private donations raised through the Ada Connecting Community campaign. Back in spring, the township gave the contractor a July 15 deadline to finish. It now says only that the bridge "is now open to the public," with no opening date given.

The Grand River Drive Trail is the less visible project, and it covers far more ground. The 4.5-mile path from Fulton Street to Knapp Street was first built in 2007. The Township Board awarded Thomet Construction a contract of up to $878,296.25 to crush and reshape it. A separate engineering, inspection and contingency budget of up to $183,078.50 went to Moore + Bruggink. The township reported the work finished in midsummer. On Ada Drive, a deteriorated 1,825-foot section on the south side, just west of the Ada Christian School driveway, got the same treatment.

The only gap left inside the township is also the shortest project on the list. The Kamp Twins Trail would add about 280 feet of trail between the existing paths on Thornapple River Drive and Fase Street, including a replacement for a timber railroad crossing. The new rubber crossing is already in. The trail itself is waiting on an easement from the railroad. The township says construction could start in late 2026 but spring 2027 is more likely. That means 4.5 miles were resurfaced in one season while 280 feet sit idle over paperwork.

Pettis Avenue opens before its river crossing does

The trail along Pettis Avenue is a Kent County project. Kent County leads it, with Cannon Township and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. as partners. Land & Resource Engineering designed it and Anlaan Corporation is building it. Grand River Network estimates the cost at $5.2 million. In June, Kent County's newsletter described 3.5 miles of separated trail through Cannon and Ada Townships. It would connect the Cannonsburg Trail to Ada's existing trails at Knapp Street and Pettis Avenue, near Forest Hills Eastern. The county expected work to wrap up in late November. A January FOX 17 report gave the length as about 2.5 miles. The newer county figure is 3.5 miles. The township's road notice, updated September 11, lists intermittent lane closures on Pettis from Cannonsburg Road to Knapp Street through November 26, 2026.

When Pettis opens, a rider from the Cannonsburg side will reach Knapp Street on Ada's east bank. Grand River Drive is on the far side of the river, and so is the township's newly resurfaced trail. The bridge that is supposed to close that gap won't be there until 2027.

FOX 17 reported in July that most of the in-river work on the Knapp Street Pedestrian Bridge was pushed to 2027 because of material delays. It also reported that Knapp Street closures are expected in 2027. Kent County Parks and Recreation Director Ben Swayze described the current crossing plainly.

"If you have tried to go over the bridge not in a car, you know that you're taking your life into your own hands."

Township Manager Julius Suchy told the station that residents raise the Pettis-to-Grand River Drive connection "especially in the wintertime." This coming winter, the new trail will bring more people to that same crossing before the separate span exists.

Why the Knapp bridge holds the network together

Once the Knapp Street bridge is finished, FOX 17 reports, it will let people connect from Ada Township to Cannon Township, reach Grand Rapids Township via Knapp Street, and get to Roselle Park and downtown. It is part of the Grand River Greenway, a regional effort to link trails across Kent County. The $10.23 million cost is split among Ada Township at $4.4 million, Kent County through Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. at $4.6 million, and the Kent County Road Commission at $1.3 million. Ada's $4.4 million share is close to double the total budget of the Thornapple bridge.

The township describes the structure as an elevated steel walkway built from 38 sections 50 feet long, plus five longer sections of 100 feet or more near the existing Knapp Street bridge. FOX 17 describes a 575-foot pedestrian bridge with asphalt paths and elevated concrete boardwalks. The sources don't explain how those two descriptions relate.

The finish date also varies by source. Ada Township says fall 2027. FOX 17 and Kent County say August 2027. The Grand River Network project page lists summer 2027.

Some of the timing was set by the river itself. In early June, an approved dive team moved about 3,000 freshwater mussels out of the work area. Among them was a federally protected snuffbox mussel. Because of environmental restrictions, the contractor couldn't begin until after the relocation.

Where to start a walk while the edges are unfinished

The finished part of the network, on the Grand River Drive side, is where the parking is:

• Ada Park, at Buttrick Avenue SE and Grand River Drive SE, has three lots with 320 spaces in total. Two lots are entered from Grand River Drive and one from Buttrick. The park has both paved and unpaved paths.
• Grand River Natural Area has a paved trail that starts at the Ada Park lot on Grand River Drive and follows the river corridor toward the Forest Hills school boathouse in Cascade Township.
• Roselle Park, at 1010 Grand River Drive NE, has paved paths and mowed trails through its 160-acre preserve.
• Seidman Park, run by Kent County, has nearly five miles of natural trails and two parking lots, one off Honey Creek Avenue and one off Conservation Street. Ada's paved multi-use trail runs along its west and south borders.

October around the new bridge, and the money behind the next round

The village end of the Thornapple bridge is busy this month. The Legacy Park playground closed on September 28 so its mulch could be replaced with poured-in-place rubber surfacing. The township estimated three to four weeks of work and had not confirmed a reopening date. Pumpkin Prowl runs Friday, October 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Ada Village, with River Street closed to traffic. The Ada Business Association lists a new "Yellow Brick Road" route to the covered bridge and a 7:45 p.m. showing of Hocus Pocus at Covered Bridge Park–South. The township's parks page lists the movie night as Saturday, so check with the organizers before you go. The Ada Farmers Market holds its last Tuesday of the season on October 27 at Community Church, 7239 Thornapple River Dr.

Funding for the next stage is already approved. On August 4, Ada voters passed a 1.2-mill parks levy that runs for 10 years, through 2035. MLive reports the higher rate is expected to start in 2027, replacing the current 0.65-mill rate. If construction follows the schedules above, the new rate starts in the same year the Knapp Street bridge and the Kamp Twins Trail are due to fill the network's two remaining gaps. Until then, the township lists Township Manager Julius Suchy as the contact for questions about trail projects and Buildings, Facilities & Grounds Director Dennis Brinks at 616-676-0520 for maintenance problems.

If you're deciding between a home near the Pettis corridor or a few blocks from the new Thornapple span, the construction timelines are worth weighing alongside the floor plan. Kate Houseman can walk you through what each project means for the streets you're considering. Schedule a free consultation.