See the Recommended Route for 30th Street Corridor Trail

30th Street Trail conceptual drawing. Image from feasibility study.

The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation released its plan for a new trail running from Havenwoods State Forest to the Hank Aaron State Trail through the 30th Street industrial corridor.

The preferred route and design is the latest development in a feasibility study developing plans for a trail running through the approximately seven-mile corridor. If the project ever advances to construction, it will create a new direct trail connection for more than 20 neighborhoods in the city of Milwaukee to the wider trail network that stretches across Milwaukee County, including the parks system’s more than 135-mile Oak Leaf Trail.

The 30th Street Corridor was identified in Milwaukee County Parks‘ Northwest Side Trail Plan as a priority trail corridor. The north side of the county and the city of Milwaukee is a trail desert, with many areas lacking a direct connection to the county’s otherwise extensive trail network.

The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation is working on the feasibility study, funded by a $700,000 federal grant, with consultants from SmithGroup. It is expected to be completed sometime next year. The new trail proposal is the recommended trail design. The project partners are still looking for feedback before moving forward to secure funding for construction. Residents can provide feedback on the proposed design through an interactive map and a survey posted to the project webpage. Community input is being collected through the end of August.

“Community feedback continues to be key to the 30th Street Corridor Feasibility Study,” said Milwaukee County Department of Transportation Director Joe Lamers in a statement. “We have used public input in each stage of this project, and now that a proposed trail route has been developed, we want to ensure community voices continue to inform the study.”

The new design largely runs along the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (WSOR) corridor, owned by Watco. At various points, primarily north of W. Townsend Street, it would stray onto roadways before returning to a separated trailway. The proposed trail route incorporates elements from three conceptual designs released in April.

In Havenwoods State Forest, the trail would run along the southeast edge of the state park until it hits W. Silver Spring Drive, an idea from the “Corridor Direct” concept. Then, as the trail runs across W. Hampton Avenue, near Lincoln Creek and eventually through the Century City Business Park, the trail more resembles a different concept called “Greenway Link.” Route ideas from a third concept, “Explore the Neighborhoods,” which zig-zagged through Old North Milwaukee, Garden Homes, Amani and Midtown neighborhoods did not feature much in the proposed design.

The southern half of the trail would largely run along the rail corridor until it runs below W. Highland Boulevard., at which point it would loop around the western edge of the Molson Coors campus before following the Menomonee River to the Hank Aaron State Trail.

“The excitement and engagement we witnessed during public information meetings reaffirms that the proposed 30th Street Trail route is about much more than creating a path for walking and biking,” said Rev. Christopher Boston, 30th Street Equitable Development Project Team Facilitator. “It is fostering hope with pathways to opportunity. Residents are helping shape a vision that reconnects neighborhoods, expands access, and lays the foundation for equitable investment that reflects the aspirations of the communities that call this corridor home.”

But getting access to the railroad corridor remains an issue.

In April, Ken Lucht, Watco vice president, told Urban Milwaukee, “The county has reached out to us, informing us of their planning process but we are not a stakeholder in their process and we are not participating. The city has a myriad of existing public roadways, trails and other public ways they can use for a future trail. The rail corridor is not for sale, lease or permit to the public.” The county’s designs envision the trail running alongside an active freight rail line.

The City of Milwaukee previously attempted to purchase the railroad corridor and lease it back to WSOR to continue operating, but has been rebuffed.

Proposed Route

Conceptual Renderings

12►

2020 Study Images