Two Road-to-Trail Projects Are Finally Moving To Construction

Top to bottom, Lincoln Creek Parkway, Little Menomonee River Parkway. Photos by Milwaukee County Parks.

The county needs contractors to help it turn two roadways into multi-use trails this summer.

Milwaukee County Parks received funding to convert both a 0.3-mile segment of the Lincoln Creek Parkway and a 0.8-mile segment of the Little Menomonee River Parkway into trails in 2022. Construction was planned for this summer and the county plans to open bidding on the project in July.

The projects are among the first road-to-trail projects the department has pursued. They also both serve as examples of the more muscular role the department is taking to expand multi-modal transportation options in Milwaukee and to improve the local environment wherever possible.

The projects are also part of an ambitious new trail campaign Parks recently announced, which has a goal to create 10 miles of new trails over the next two years.

The two trail conversions that will take place this year have a combined budget of approximately $2.65 million. Like other road-to-trail projects, the upfront costs for converting to a trail should yield savings for the county in the long run, as trails are far less expensive to rebuild and maintain than roadways.

The parkway conversions will not cut off any vehicle access to the wider street network. Currently, they provide redundant access.

Both segments have been closed to vehicle traffic for more than a year as part of a trial run called “Active Streets” that tested how limiting vehicle traffic would improve bicycle and pedestrian access along the roads.

With some conversion projects, Parks has faced strong resistance from nearby neighbors, notably, in the Jackson Park neighborhood. Parks attempted to convert a section of the Kinnickinnic River Parkway to a trail, but the two local supervisors opposed the project  and got the board to back a more expensive, scaled-down conversion of the roadway.

The road-to-trail conversion projects also support another policy goal for the system: they get rid of concrete. Parks is responsible for more than 60 miles of roadways and 142 acres of parking lots. Like all paved surfaces, this infrastructure contributes to stormwater runoff and the urban heat island effect. They’re also expensive to maintain.