Committees recommend releasing Hines Woodland Trail easement to Middleton Shores with construction access assurances

Kylie Sherrer, the city’s director of parks and recreation, told the joint Public Works and Ped/Bike/Transit committees that the Hines Woodland Trail easement — which has been on the books since 2009 — is in inconsistent condition and no longer serves the same function now that the North Mendota Trail exists.

Sherrer said the easement area lacks consistent surfacing and signage and that the city faces a backlog of trail maintenance. She recommended releasing the permanent easement to focus limited maintenance resources on higher‑use routes such as the North Mendota Trail.

Several residents and committee members pushed back, saying the short, informal path remains a useful detour when the North Mendota Trail is closed. The president of the Harper Village homeowners association, Pamela Kosel, and Anna, a Middleton Shores resident, said closures have forced pedestrians and cyclists to make unsafe crossings or take long detours. "When the North Mendota path was closed, the only other option was to cross four lanes at Marina where there's no safe crossing," one frequent user said.

City Engineer Luke Malatik told the committees he did not expect repeated full-path closures for future Middleton Shores phases, characterizing the recent closure as limited to a single Century Avenue access point for utility connections. That technical clarification did not erase residents’ safety concerns, and committee members asked staff to ensure any council‑level motion includes provisions for temporary, safe crossings or signage during periods of construction closure.

Alderman Myers moved that Public Works recommend the permanent release of the path easement to Middleton Shores LLC; the motion was seconded and passed in the Public Works committee. Ped/Bike/Transit made a parallel motion carrying the same recommendation with the direction that assurances about temporary access during construction be written into the motion when it goes to common council.

Next steps: both committee recommendations will be forwarded to the common council for final action; committees asked staff to draft specific contingencies and temporary-access measures to include in the council motion.