Zoo Interchange work to delay Hank Aaron trail extension
(For more video on the Hank Aaron Trail and the Menomonee Valley, click here.)
May 12, 2008 -- Zoo Interchange reconstruction likely will delay the extension of the Hank Aaron west of 94th Pl., according to trail manager Melissa Cook, of the Department of Natural Resources.
Reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange is scheduled to begin in 2012.
There are six overpasses or ramps will be demolished and rebuilt during the project that pass directly over the Hank Aaron trail, Cook said.
"That would be really problematic to have that interact with pedestrians and bicyclists,"she said.
The Hank Aaron Trail will be extended along an abandoned rail line that runs through the Veteran's Administration grounds to the Waukesha County line.
Cook made her comments during a recent meeting held to discuss changes to the Hank Aaron trail master plan.
Preliminary design and engineering will continue for the entire trail, she said.
"We're hoping, and what we're thinking, is that we would be able to build the trail at least out to 94th Place where it crosses the road at grade and then to plan another route that would function as a temporary route to get people through to the Oak Leaf Trail while this construction is going on," she said.
Melissa Cook discusses the impact of the Zoo Interchange
reconstruction project on the Hank Aaron Trail.
Hank Aaron
trail hearing Thursday
Proposed trail changes to be discussed
April 30, 2008 -- Plans to lengthen the east end of the Hank Aaron State Trail to connect it to Lakeshore State Park and to create a recreational site along the central portion of the trail are anong proposed changes to the trail master plan that will be discussed at a public hearing Thursday evening.
"What we're really doing is cleaning up some boundaries," trail manager Melissa Cook said.
The meeting will be held as an open house from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Menomonee Valley at Palermo’s Pizza Manufacturing, 3301 W. Canal St. Maps will be available and a presentation outlining the proposed changes will be given at 5:30 p.m.
The plans call for:
- Expansion of the eastern portion of the trail to connect it to Lakeshore Park. "It makes absolute sense to connect to it," Cook said. Much of the trail extension will be along city streets.
- Addition to the trail of 20 acres of a stormwater treatment park in the central part of the trail -- Near 35th St. south of Canal S. Another two acres along Canal Street would be added to allow for better routing of the trail.
- Development of an agreement with the city, the Redevelopment Authority, the Menomonee Valley Partners Inc. and CP Rail to improve the old rail yards in the Menomonee Valley. "There's always been a desire to make improvements to the rail yard and make it more like a park," Cook said.
- Expansion of the central portion of the trail to connect to Mitchell Park.
- Reduction of a 243-acre northern corridor segment that was determined to be unnecessary after the Department of Natural Resources bought an abandoned rail line that will provide an east-west Hank Aaron trail route.
- Adding 31 acres that will use a tunnel as an I-94 underpass to the Milwaukee County Zoo.
- Adding 10 acres for construciton of a ramp to connect the Oak Leaf Trail to Waukesha County.
The state, through the DNR and the Department of Transportation, also is looking to turn an old tunnel that passes under railroad tracks near 37th and Pierce Streets into a bicycle and pedestrian facility. WisDOT, in a February bid solicitation, said the project would also include bicycle/pedestrian bridge from the Hank Aaron State Trail across the Menomonee River.
"This project will be the key connection from the south side of the Menomonee River to the Hank Aaron State Trail and Menomonee Valley businesses," WisDOT said.
Cook said she did not expect major construction along the trail this year. The Valley Passage, as the tunnel / bridge project is called, needs to be fully planned and designed first and that probably will be the focus of 2008.
It also is unlikely that the new west end portion of the trail -- the former railroad right-of-way --will be paved soon. The skyrocketing price of the asphalt has left project funding about $500,000 short, Cook said.
In addition, the planned recostruction of the Zoo Interchage could the affect the timing of the trail's completion. There are six freeway passes the new section of the trail, and all six will be torn down during the Zoo Interchange reconstruction project, started to begin in 2012. The project likely would result in great damage a newly-paved trail, Cook said.
The DNR is looking at some potential alternate construction time bike routes and is working with WisDOT on the issue.
"I want to try to make this a win-win situation," she said.
More information about the DNR master plan, including a summary and maps, is available at the DNR web site.
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