Great news for walkers and bikers in Franklin as another extension has been added to the portion of the Oak Leaf Trail that winds through town. Unfortunately, a combination of DNR regulations regarding wetlands preservation and a depleted budget mean that the "phase 3" extension - - which eliminates a dangerous on-road portion of the Trail and provides a safe under-road path across busy Rawson Avenue - - had to be cut short and re-joins dangerous, shoulder-less 68th Street well before terminating at Loomis Street and connecting to Greendale (see my Bike Lane Dilemma post).
Also, as you can see in my hastily constructed panoramic photo above, the path joins narrow 68th Street just beyond a sightline-obscuring slope. Pretty dicey bike conditions.
The path was funded by an $800,000 federal grant supplemented by about $200,000 raised by J.O.L.T. ("Join the Oak Leaf Trail"). Nominally, the path would have gone right by picturesque Anderson Lake and out to Loomis to join the Root River Parkway with minimal exposure to street traffic.
The hard-left turn you see above was necessitated by DNR-identified wetlands that would have required construction of bridges/boardwalks, each of which cost in the neighborhood of $400,000 - - obviously impossible with the funds available.
No reason to look a gift horse in the mouth - - it's a beautiful path - - but parents who want to take kids all the way to the Root River Parkway will have to be extremely wary of that last quarter mile or so.
See more shots of the path on my Flickr page.
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