September 26, 2008

 

 

 

Badger State Trail Completion Grant Approved

Announcement Today that Fitchburg Request Will Complete Trail

Madison – The long awaited completion of the Badger State Trail will be announced today with the signature of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation Frank Busalacchi on the Transportation Enhancements Grants Committee recommendations.

Senators Erpenbach and Risser, who represent communities along the trail, applaud the work of the Transportation Enhancements Committee which earlier this summer ranked the Badger State Trail highest in their project ranking. Nearly $1.1 million in federal, state, and local funds will be allocated for the project. The grant focus is for a paved trail for biker commuters and others on the northern portion of the trail that runs through Fitchburg.

“This is a great victory for bikers and communities along the Badger State Trail. Trail users will now be able to bike from south of the Illinois border to the State Capitol making commuter biking safer and enhancing leisure biking in south central Wisconsin,” said Senator Jon Erpenbach.

“The completion of this trail will continue the link of biking and leisure trails throughout southern Wisconsin. The City of Fitchburg deserves kudos for their work on this project. As a biker, I look forward to taking the completed Badger State Trail,” Senator Risser said.

The Badger State Trail is south central Wisconsin’s biking gem. Once a railway in the region, in 1997 the Department of Natural Resources began to look at the possibility of converting the corridor to a recreational trail under the federal Rails to Trail Act. In 2006, the DNR master plan for the rail bed was approved by the Natural Resources Board, making it the Badger State Trail. Some historical points of interest along the Badger trail include the depot in Belleville, built in 1888, the Woolen Mill in Monticello, and the curved tunnel south of Belleville.

For a complete list of Transportation Enhancements grants visit the Wisconsin Department of Transportation at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/ .