Oak Leaf Trail Projects Could Start in 2024

Oak Leaf Trail Access Ramp to UW-Milwaukee. Image from Milwaukee County Parks.

After being awarded approximately $3.9 million for a series of improvements to the Oak Leaf Trail network, Milwaukee County Parks could begin work on them in 2024.

The funding will go toward a new access ramp near UW-Milwaukee and a series of modernization projects. The money arrives via two grants awarded through the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). The grants are funded by the federal Department of Transportation (USDOT) and administered by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

In order to use the funding, the county needs to provide 20% in matching funds. For these grants, the total comes to approximately $1.08 million, which it will seek in the 2024 budget, according to a recent parks report. Construction will also need to begin before September 2025 in order to use the funds.

Ultimately, whether these projects receive the funding they need will be up to the Milwaukee County Board as it deliberates the 2024 county budget this fall.

When parks was awarded funding for these two projects, the county also received approximately $500,000 for flood mitigation along the Root River and approximately $431,000 spread across three projects: a new trail plan, bike and pedestrian crossing plans and a community planning project aimed at reckless driving.

Access Ramp and Safety Project

Parks plans to design and construct a new access ramp for the Oak Leaf that would run east toward the intersection of N. Cambridge Avenue and E. Hampshire St. The connection is intended to better serve nearby residents and commuters traveling to and from UW-Milwaukee.

Traveling east from the Oak Leaf along Hampshire street it takes six blocks to run into the western edge of UW-Milwaukee’s campus. But the project is, actually, just about bike commuters. It’s also about fixing a sinkhole.

An old tunnel, no longer in use, runs under the trail there and it’s causing depressions and sinkholes along the Oak Leaf. Part of the project will also include “remediating” the old cavern so as to prevent further degradation of the trail. Altogether this project is expected to cost approximately $1.6 million.

Oak Leaf Modernization

The trail network is an ongoing project for Milwaukee County Parks. To date, it has more than 135 miles of trail, and not all of it was built at the same time.

Parks plans to bring some older sections up to modern trail standards. This will mean adjusting the width, improving the pavement, adding signage and trail counters that measure usage. The total cost for this project is estimated at approximately $3.5 million.