Construction on New Kohl Park Trail Planned for Spring
2.6 mile trail will run through park and connect to Oak Leaf Trail.
Kohl Park proposed trail map. Milwaukee County Parks.
Milwaukee County Parks expects to begin construction on an extension of the Oak Leaf Trail network in Kohl Park this spring.
The project involves construction of a 2.6 mile trail through the park connecting to the Zip Line segment of the Oak Leaf Trail and the Brown Deer Trail. It will provide a direct connection between the northwest side of the park and Brown Deer and Estabrook parks.
“We’re fixing gaps in the Oak Leaf Trail (OLT) between the Zip Line and the Menomonee River Line, and even creating a cross-county connection via the Granville side path and Interurban Trail,” Parks stated on a public facing project page.
The trail will also provide better access to the park for nearby residents, as currently there is very little access to the 266-acre park.
Parks has had plans for the trail for nearly two decades. A Kohl Park project first appeared in the county’s trail network plan in 2007. In 2020, the county was awarded $1.9 million in federal funding for the project and the design was completed in 2023. The project will soon be open to bidding with a plan to break ground by the spring, Jeremy Lucas, Parks Director of Administration and Planning told Urban Milwaukee.
The federal funding for the trail came through the Congestion, Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant program. Parks has had success in the past using this grant program to fund trail projects. It was created to fund transportation projects that can support a reduction in traffic congestion and pollution. In other words, projects that reduce the reliance on cars within the local transportation network. The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) has also garnered CMAQ funds in the past.
The park is bounded on the north end by County Line Road, and the project will also add traffic signals to the road’s intersection with N. 76th Street.
Parks is planning to add benches along the trail in scenic spots of the park, which will likely become even more scenic in the coming years. The department will soon begin planning a habitat restoration project in the park that will restore native ecological features of rare native grasslands and Oak savannas.
Once finished the project will create the biggest contiguous habitat block in the county, and a new trail will run through it.
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Aw right! More bike trails!
Great connection!