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The Beer Line rail corridor is shaping up to be an open space resource and multiuse trail for the Riverwest neighborhood. It is expected that the section along the river running south from Gordon Park will become a paved hiking and biking trail with construction beginning in 2005. The section running northwest from Snail’s Crossing Park (Burleigh and Bremen Streets) has been purchased by the City of Milwaukee using federal transportation dollars and will be added to the inventory of open space and walking/biking links. A group of 14 people met to discuss this northern section of the trail on November 3 at City Hall. The group included residents; Alderman Michael D’Amato; Mike Loughran, city engineer and chair of the Mayor’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force; representatives from the Riverwest Neighborhood Association (RNA); business owners; and representatives from Riverworks, the non-profit development group on East Capitol Drive. No final decisions were made at this meeting as to how the trail would be developed, but there were some general areas of agreement. The most important agreed-upon goal is that the neighborhood and city work together to create a plan for the land. The city will create a request for proposal for design work and share this plan with RNA for comments before asking for bids. The residents and interested parties will have a chance for input before anything is started. One resident, Alexa Bradley, who lives along the corridor, expressed hope that the plan would include friendly design. She said, “It should be playful with curved paths with benches. It should be family friendly.”
article / photo by Vince Bushell