Consulting Firm Selected To Overhaul Milwaukee Trail Plan

Oak Leaf Trail sign on Menomonee River Parkway. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

The design firm SmithGroup will lead development of a new countywide trails plan for Milwaukee County Parks.

The plan has not been updated since 2007 and serves as a long-term guide for trail planning. According to Milwaukee County, updating the plan creates a unique opportunity for public input on future trail projects.

Parks noticed its intent to award the contract to SmithGroup in October and is currently negotiating with the firm. An agreement has not yet been signed, according to a spokesperson for Milwaukee County Parks.

SmithGroup is an international design firm with offices across the country, including Milwaukee. The firm is headquartered in Detroit. It recently worked with the county to design a new beach for South Shore Park. It has also recently worked with the City of Milwaukee to design the Harbor District Riverwalk and updates to Swing Park.

The consultants will look for gaps in the county’s trail network and also catalog all the trails that exist or are planned countywide, according to the project parameters released by the county. The firm will also compile a report on areas available for trail development, looking at publicly owned land, as well as waterway, utility and rail corridors.

When the first trail plan was created, there was very little dedicated or protected bicycle infrastructure on the street network. The City of Milwaukee didn’t install its first protected bike lanes until 2018. The SmithGroup consultants are tasked with reviewing streets around the county that may have the capacity for separated bike lanes or other bicycle infrastructure.

Milwaukee County Parks has developed eight of the 19 projects contained in the original 2007 plan, and the Oak Leaf Trail network has grown from 108 miles of trail to more than 135. Bicycle infrastructure, in general, has also increased as Milwaukee and other municipalities invest more in trails and bike lanes.

Parks is planning for a robust public input process during the development of the trail plan, including in-person and virtual public input meetings and soliciting input from local governments, nonprofits, businesses and other stakeholders. Then Parks director of administration and planning Jeremy Lucas told Urban Milwaukee in 2024 that the process could take more than a year.

The new plan represents the department’s long-term planning for its infrastructure. But, in the short term, Parks has set a goal to develop 10 miles of new trail by the end of 2026. Beyond increasing trail mileage, the campaign also aims to stimulate public awareness and interest in the trail network and its expansion.

Update: This story has been updated to note that Parks is still negotiating a contract with SmithGroup.