By Dave Fidlin
CORRESPONDENT
Plans to convert an abandoned rail line into a path accommodating bicyclists and pedestrians will require extensive intergovernmental collaboration and cooperation, the top elected official within Union Grove asserted this week.
On the heels of last week’s public information meeting on the proposed Rails to Trails project, Village President Mike Aimone said a meeting is slated in mid-June to bring together elected officials within the five communities impacted by the proposal.
Those communities include the villages of Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant and Union Grove and towns of Dover and Yorkville.
The meeting, Aimone said, is planned for June 14 or June 15.
“That’s the timeline for where we are at the moment,” Aimone said. “It’s important to have some follow-up with these communities.”
The Rails to Trails effort was announced early this year and was the outgrowth of a grass roots effort. Union Grove resident Larissa Gallagher is among the organizers helming the proposal.
If plans move forward, an old set of unused Soo Line railroad tracks would be converted into the bike and pedestrian trail. The Soo Line has been dormant for two-and-a-half years, and plans are in motion to remove most of the infrastructure – including the tracks themselves – early this summer.
The old Soo Line had run from Kansasville within the Town of Dover to Sturtevant.
Speaking to last week’s public information meeting, Aimone said it was well attended, with upward of 60 people listening to the various components of the plan. Attendees included Racine County officials and representatives of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
County and state approval would likely be needed before any decisions are made at the municipal level.
In addition to the benefits of promoting health and wellness, Gallagher said the virtues of Rails for Trails extend far beyond Union Grove itself.
If the proposed path is laid, it would link up to an existing trail system in far western Racine County, near Burlington and Waterford, and give pedestrians and bicyclists an opportunity to enjoy a safe path to the Lake Michigan shoreline in Racine.
Gallagher and other organizers began exploring Rails to Trails as part of a class, Leadership Union Grove, which is offered through the local chamber of commerce.
While there has been support for the Rails for Trails proposal, Gallagher and Aimone quickly concede there has been some misinformation about the full scope of the plans, leading to the recent round of meetings to help bring everyone on the same page.
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