You are correct: it is not possible to negotiate with the Union Pacific regarding right of way.
Here is the information that I have on the Capital City Trail/Glacial Drumlin Trail. First, by agreement, the City of Madison is responsible for the trail connection from the current southern limit of the Capital City Trail, that being Buckeye Road to I39/90. The WDNR is responsible from I39/90 to the Glacial Drumlin Trailhead. WDNR has been acquiring parcels of land to incorporate the trail off the Union Pacific Railway, as has the Village of Cottage Grove. Some easements have been acquired through agreements with the City of Madison and property owners regarding future park dedication. The Village of Cottage Grove is acquiring easements to upgrade its sewer interceptor. There is considerable wetlands in this corridor and the WDNR is acquiring easements/lands to go around them. The City of Madison staff have prepared a plan for a pathway on local streets and on a separate bike way parallel to the tracks from the Buckeye Road terminus to I39/90. The pathway will be an easement on some residential properties but mainly on city owned lands (Stormwater Utility lands.) Alder Compton has reviewed and supports the plan as does one large church who has significant property on the route. A public meeting to review the route will be setup when Tony Fernandez, bike facilities designer completes other assignments. I discussed the WDNR schedule with Dana White-Quam, the project manager. WDNR is the recipient of $200,000 of federal funds, courtesy of Rep. Baldwin, which can be used for design. So...a tentative schedule would be: Conclude Right of Way Acquisition: 2009 Design and Funding Requests: 2010 - 2011 Earliest Construction: 2012. (It would be my inclination to hire a consultant to use the Baldwin federal funds this year or at least early next year.) I suspect that the City's schedule would be similar. Larry D. Nelson, P.E. -----Original Message----- From: Karl D. Kletzien [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 7:18 AM To: Larry D. Nelson Cc: BikiesSubmissions Subject: Re: [Bikies] Biking Infrastructure Along with Tim's input, I certainly hope that extending the Capital City Trail to the village of Cottage Grove has not been abandoned. I know that property has been purchased from landowners whose property abuts the rail line between Madison and Cottage Grove. I also know that despite ample monetary offers, Union Pacific has refused to sell right-of-way for bike trails within the city of Madison. Is significant right-of-way necessary from Union Pacific to complete the path to Cottage Grove? --- On Mon, 9/7/09, tim wong <[email protected]> wrote: > From: tim wong <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Biking Infrastructure > To: "Larry D. Nelson" <[email protected]> > Cc: "BikiesSubmissions" <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, September 7, 2009, 3:56 PM > Speaking of biking infrastructure, the east > side rail corridor trail is in bad need of > reconstruction/paving between Marquette and, I think, > Tulane. Some short sections were redone this summer, but > the trail seems to be coming apart at the seams. Those > "bumps" where the two seams no longer meet are > really hard on a bike, especially a road bike. The trail > should probably also be widened at least two feet. > > > On 9/7/09, Larry D. Nelson <[email protected]> > wrote: > With the important exceptions of a stronger connection to > the North side and > the Northeast side of the City of Madison, the > infrastructure is largely in > place to offer those in SOV to bike. > > The emphasis now is to connect the system to other > municipalities and there > > are three major projects on the boards to do just that: > > 1. The Lower Yahara Trail, which will connect the > Village of McFarland to > Madison; > > 2. The Cannonball Trail, which will connect Fitchburg > and Verona to Madison > > (and the residents of Madison south of the Beltline > Highway to Madison); > and, > > 3. The paving of the Badger Trail, which will connect > Paoli and Bellville > to Madison. > > In addition to expanding the system, we need to maintain > the current system, > > which was initially laid out in the early 1970s. When > the pavement is > replaced or resurfaced, the corridors are brought up to > current standards > for safety and traffic projections...just like roads. > > What is the range that we can expect most users to > consider for commuter > > biking? Perhaps the maximum is 10-miles, one way. The > SW Trail was measured > last year with 2500 users, which is equivalent to a > collector street. > > Planners for biking infrastructure need to be cognizant > that, while Madison > > may enjoy a growth in population, jobs within Madison may > not be growing. > We, unfortunately, need to await the results of the > decadal census, which we > will not have the results until 2012 but it is likely that > these corridors > > will be used by Madisonians to commute to jobs outside of > the City. > > Fortunately, funding for bike paths has been available > since the 1990 ISTEA > Act. But, a good plan and public support is required to > obtain funding. > > Frankly, one of the challenges of constructing biking > infrastructure is that > veteran bikers often want to compete with cars on > roadways and the people > we want to offer an alternative to the SOV are not aware > of the potential. > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
