Seal of Dane County County of Dane
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Dane County Land & Water Resources Department

Wisconsin River Recreation Bridge Open House

Event Dates

  • Wednesday, 10/23/2019 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Event Description

Dane and Sauk county officials gathered in Sauk City on July 23 to kick off the long-awaited study of the feasibility of building a new recreation bridge to connect the recently expanded Great Sauk State Trail with Walking Iron Trail envisioned in Dane from the river to Mazomanie for foot, bike, and seasonal snowmobile use. Public communications around this project is key in making the vision of a multi-use recreation trail from Middleton to Reedsburg a reality.

Public information meetings are scheduled with the consultants to discuss the bridge study and solicit community input. This is the second public meeting opportunity (the first is on October 21).

Open House at 6:00pm. Meeting starts at 6:30pm.

Purpose of the Meeting:
Consultants for Dane and Sauk counties studying the feasibility of building a four-season recreation bridge over the Wisconsin River at Sauk City will hold two community meetings in October to provide information about goals of the study and to introduce the public to the potential bridge project. The study is being led by MSA Professional Services, Inc. of Baraboo in partnership with Westbrook Associated Engineers, Inc. of Spring Green to explore design options and estimate construction costs for a new 500-foot bridge for pedestrian, bicycle, and snowmobile use to connect the recently expanded Great Sauk State Trail with Walking Iron Trail envisioned in northwest Dane County.

Meeting attendees will have the opportunity to be part of the development of the design options. For the consultants, the purpose of the meetings is to gather the following information:

  • What is the story that we want to tell about this area and the bridge site?
  • End user insight into important environmental, historical, or cultural themes that may be incorporated into the bridge design;
  • End user insight into the desired amenities associated with the bridge…ow do people want to use this bridge?
  • End user insight into the preferred aesthetics (materials and style) of the proposed bridge design

The location under study (attachment) is the former site of the 100-year-old Sauk City rail bridge demolished in 2018. A final report from MSA/Westbook is due by December 31, 2019. The consultants will identify a preliminary design alternative based on construction feasibility, consideration of environmental matters, cost of construction and maintenance, and other factors to be determined.

The Great Sauk State Trail Commission is administering the study for the two counties, which are sharing the $78,825 project cost. The public is encouraged to visit the project Facebook Page for updates and to provide input.

Dane Contacts: Chris James, james@countyofdane.com, 608-224-3763; Christopher Long, chris@gatewaytothedriftless.com, 608-658-7901

Sauk Contact: Jared Pinkus, jared.pinkus@saukcountywi.gov, 608-355-4840

Location

River Arts Center - Sauk Prairie School District (105 9th St., Prairie Du Sac)

Contact

james@countyofdane.com

Categories: Parks, Public Meeting, Talk or Workshop