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Hank Aaron State Trail extension ready for finishing touches

Posted by Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel on Nov. 7, 2011

cycling, trails

Much of the fine gravel has been laid and compacted on the Hank Aaron State Trail extension from 94th Pl. to the Underwood Parkway, and the remaining work on the $328,000 project is scheduled to be done this week.

Bikers will find rough gravel west of 121st St., and that segment will be finished with asphalt to tie the Hank Aaron to the Oak Leaf Trail, just south of Blue Mound Road. The connection will complete a largely off-road bike and walking route from Lakeshore State Park to Cottage Grove.

In an email update, trail manager Melissa Cook said: "I wish we could have completed this segment earlier in the season, so that folks would have been able to use it more this summer.  But, I'm just glad that we got it in at all.  It will be all ready to go on warm weather days and then before we know it, spring will be here again."

During a test ride on Sunday, I found the narrow tires on my road bike rolled quite easily over the compacted gravel from 94th Pl. to 121st St. The surface was smooth and firm, but riders should watch for a few soft spots and the drop-off on the edges of the pathway.

We encountered more than a dozen other bikers and an equal number of walkers checking out the work paid for by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Craig Mastantuono rolls easily on the compacted stone used to extend the Hank Aaron State Trail. This shows the trail immediately west of 94th Pl. Photo by Tom Held.

7 Comments for "Hank Aaron State Trail extension ready for finishing touches"

  1. It's great; we took a ride on it Saturday with our touring bikes with our tires at 700x32, and it was no problem. How wonderful to be able to ride under the freeways! I was surprised to see the bike path under Blue Mound closed; there didn't appear to be a reason for it.

    I do wish we wouldn't have to wait years for the extension to be paved; I understand the area underneath the Zoo interchange should not be yet, but why can't the rest of it be done now? But I am happy the trail is there at all.

    mytifine Nov 07, 2011 12:36 PM

  2. It's great; we took a ride on it Saturday with our touring bikes with our tires at 700x32, and it was no problem. How wonderful to be able to ride under the freeways! I was surprised to see the bike path under Blue Mound closed; there didn't appear to be a reason for it.

    I do wish we wouldn't have to wait years for the extension to be paved; I understand the area underneath the Zoo interchange should not be yet, but why can't the rest of it be done now? But I am happy the trail is there at all.

    mytifine Nov 07, 2011 12:36 PM

  3. From what I understand the reason it wasnt paved now is that the trail will be used as an access point for construction equipment during the rebuild of the interchange. The weight of these vehicles would trash the asphalt, so that is why the paving is being pushed until the interchange is rebuilt.

    ride no evo Nov 07, 2011 2:40 PM

  4. I rode the trail in from 121/Bluemound to downtown this morning. They were paving the far west end and said it should be ready tonight. It makes sense to hold off on paving the rest of it until the construction work is done. Either it is easily ridable with any kind of bike.

    John Fauber Nov 07, 2011 4:08 PM

  5. This is nice but the trail is not usable for a good portion of the year because it is not cleared of snow. It's a great trail, let's make it usable the year round!!

    MARQTTE Nov 07, 2011 8:49 PM

  6. Agreed -- but the state/county/city only has so many resources to go around. Might be well worth organizing a snow-clearing group to take care of things, think there's already a Friends of the HAST organization that could further coordinate things.

    Springfield Fuzzy Nov 08, 2011 2:00 AM

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