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Commission outlines Rotary Trail extension and long-range regional trail goals
Summary
Members reviewed CIP-listed projects including a Rotary Trail extension (estimated ~$1M) and a larger connector (~$10M) that may require eminent domain; they tied local projects to statewide trail initiatives and federal grant strategies.
Commissioners reviewed long-range bicycle and pedestrian projects in the capital improvement plan, including a Rotary Trail extension that staff estimated roughly as a $1,000,000-scale project and a larger connector project that staff estimated as approximately $10,000,000 and likely to require right-of-way acquisition or eminent domain.
Committee members noted that the Rotary Trail extension is in the CIP which allows staff to plan, but the larger connector would need a statutory change to proceed if an unwilling seller requires eminent domain. "It would, require eminent domain, to deal with a unwilling seller, and therefore is on hold, until the statutes change," a committee member said, noting a state senator had signaled interest in advancing a change.
Members placed the local projects in a broader regional context, citing partnerships with Dane County Parks, the Bike Fed and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and the Route of the Badger network; they discussed federal grant opportunities and the decades-long timeline for large trail connections.
