Public Input Sought on Countywide Trail Plan

Oak Leaf Trail – Zip Line. Photo taken October 20th, 2020 by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County Parks has scheduled the first public input meeting for the development of a new countywide trail plan.

On Aug. 27, Milwaukee County Parks will host a public meeting at South Shore Park where residents will be able to help determine the future of trails in the county.

The trails network plan, which was last updated in 2007, provides the department with a long-term list of trail projects to pursue. The department managed to develop eight of the 19 projects included in the past trail plan. The county parks department owns and maintains the Oak Leaf Trail system and well as the Forked Aster Hiking Trail system. Other trails are owned and maintained by municipalities and the state.

The county has contracted with SmithGroup for the project, which will seek to identify gaps in the existing trail network and catalog the existing trails in the county. SmithGroup will compile a report on areas available for trail development, including public lands, as well as waterway, utility and rail corridors. The project will consider areas for both “soft” hiking trails and paved multi-use trails, according to Parks.

But planning will not be limited strictly to areas for potential Parks trail projects. The planning process will also consider roadways around the county that may have room for bike lanes and other bicycle infrastructure. There wasn’t much protected bicycle infrastructure in the county when the first trails plan was created: the City of Milwaukee didn’t install its first protected bike lanes until 2018.

Parks is planning a number of opportunities for the community to provide input on the project. Engagement will take place during three separate phases of planning and will include open house meetings, pop-ups and meetings with community organizations.

The upcoming meeting will provide the first in-person opportunity. But the department has also already launched a new digital tool — the MKE Trail Comment App — that allows users to provide comments and draw potential trail routes on a map of the county.

In 2023, the department created the Northwest Side Trail Connections Plan with significant public input, identifying seven priority corridors for trail development that will connect the area to the 135-mile Oak Leaf Trail network. The northwest side has a dearth of trails relative to the rest of the county and the majority of area residents do not have direct access to a trail. The northwest side plan will be incorporated into the countywide trail network plan.