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Hank Aaron State Trail extends its run

Posted by Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel on Aug. 11, 2011

trails

State officials have set Oct. 15 as the finish date for a gravel extension of the Hank Aaron State Trail, giving trail users something extra to celebrate at the annual 5K Run/Walk on Saturday.

Money raised at the charity event will be used by the Friends of the Hank Aaron State Trail to refurbish and install a historic streetcar shelter at the new western trailhead in Underwood Parkway, just south of Blue Mound Road.

Work to extend the trail from N. 94th Place to the parkway and the Oak Leaf Trail will start in September, according to the State Department of Transportation. That portion of the bike and pedestrian path will be covered in crushed limestone, then paved after the reconstruction of the roads and ramps in the Zoo Interchange is completed in 2018.

The Oak Leaf Trail passes under the rail corridor to be used for the Hank Aaron extension. Photo by Tom Held

Trail users and managers have pushed the DOT to extend the pathway to the logical connection with the Oak Leaf Trail, and provide a route from the Milwaukee lakefront to the edge of Madison.

The Hank Aaron Run on Saturday will give runners and walkers an opportunity to enjoy the progress made on the path in recent years.

Like the trail, the run has grown.

More than 1,500 participated last year, and organizers expect the turnout to best that number on Saturday.

Registration will be open from 7 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., at the start area near the Klement's Sausage Haus in the Miller Park parking lot. The entry fee is $25 on race day.

In honor of Hank Aaron's #44, every 44th finisher will win a prize. Check this site for more details.

23 Comments for "Hank Aaron State Trail extends its run"

  1. That just not possible, the last story you did on the Hank Aaron everyone was ready to burn Scott Walker because he took ALL the money away from cycling projects in the state. I guess they where wrong again. Good to see this happing to get more duffs off the couch

    ksjc Aug 11, 2011 11:20 AM

  2. This is awesome news.

    MU82 Aug 11, 2011 11:22 AM

  3. @ksjc - Scott Walker did try to take all money away from biking and
    pedestrian projects. Thanks to pressure from the Bike Federation of
    Wisconsin and others it was just announced that $2 million was restored
    in the budget for bike/ped projects
    (http://www.bikeleague.org/blog/2011/08/bicycle-federation-of-
    wisconsin-restores-2-million-for-bikeped-to-state-budget/). However, it
    is possible that none of that effects the Hank Aaron Trail since a lot of
    that was put in place prior to the current budget, not sure.

    junkied Aug 11, 2011 12:22 PM

  4. Is there any details of the restored historic streetcar shelter. They did have a picture of it on the website. Where did it come from? How old is it? Where was it originally installed? Was it stored somewhere? Are there more artifacts from the old electric streetcar system being stored somewhere? Many of the trails in use today utilize these old streetcar right of ways. I think there should be more ways to memorialize these historic electric railways that were at one time so prevalent. Install some historical markers showing that the trolley used to run thru that area or more refurbished original artifacts such as the shelter. More of these right of ways are currently owned by Weenergies and would be nice to see trails developed on these as well. I know there is also talk of using the old Waukesha to Watertown line as a future bikepath, but that is also on hold due to funding.

    WisRapids Aug 11, 2011 12:57 PM

  5. All good questions, WisRapids, and I hope someone answers. I have the same interest. Could you please post the link to that website, or direct me where to find it - I'd like to see the picture of the old shelter also. Thanks.

    Raddmann Aug 11, 2011 1:06 PM

  6. All good questions, WisRapids, and I hope someone answers. I have the same interest. Could you please post the link to that website, or direct me where to find it - I'd like to see the picture of the old shelter also. Thanks.

    Raddmann Aug 11, 2011 1:06 PM

  7. I believe the historic shelters were from the 16th street viaduct. After it was redone they were in storage.

    MkeJames Aug 11, 2011 1:08 PM

  8. There is one shelter on Canal Street east of 25th Street and another on the Milwaukee Street side of Catalano Square in the Third Ward. Both look very cool.

    Runner Girl Aug 11, 2011 1:13 PM

  9. To view the picture of the shelter click in the link at the end of the article, then go to maps, It has a very nice picture of it in the lower right hand corner. I remember this shelter now that someone mentioned where it came from, when I used to ride my bike across the 16th street viaduct years ago.

    WisRapids Aug 11, 2011 1:35 PM

  10. Nice, I am going to ride it all and check it out today. Should be added
    interest in the State Fair area with that going on.

    mikeyd Aug 11, 2011 1:44 PM

  11. Thank you runner girl for the info. Check out htis link for more on the restoration of the shelters. www.hankaaronstatetrail.org/pdf/FOHAST%20street%20shelters.pdf

    WisRapids Aug 11, 2011 2:09 PM

  12. You can find a picture of the shelter in Catalano Square in this gallery http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/106586613.html
    I am checking for more detail on the shelter being refurbished for the western trailhead.

    T. Held Aug 11, 2011 2:22 PM

  13. It appears the shelter my have been refurbished from 2 badly deteriorated shelters and built into one functional shelter.

    WisRapids Aug 11, 2011 2:52 PM

  14. Also of note: just north of the pictured underpass below the railroad tracks is the newly opened underpass below Blue Mound Rd. Just rode that an hour ago. It's great because it saves having to cross the busy and dangerous Blue Mound. Every time I pass a fellow biker, I say, "Isn't this great?" After the affirmation, I say, "Thank the Democrats."

    marchingband Aug 11, 2011 3:06 PM

  15. More detail on the shelters from Melissa Cook: The two shelters installed on the trail earlier cost $130,000 to refurbish, total for both.
    There were originally six shelters from the 16th St. Viaduct and they were able to salvage enough material to complete two shelters.
    There is one more good roof left, that will be utilized for the shelter on the west end.
    They will be looking closely at the remaining roofs, since we have had several inquiries, but it is somewhat doubtful if more than one good one exists.

    T. Held Aug 11, 2011 3:18 PM

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