Good news for East Side pedestrians, the Oak Leaf Trail is back open! Construction barriers cornered off a bit of the trail that's between East Bellview Place and North Prospect Avenue.
Sandra Blaschke lives in the area with her dog Molly and says she's happy about the trail improvements.
"Oh, I think it's wonderful. It's a wonderful trail, I've walked it many times with Molly," said Sandra.
Outdoorsman Dan Connolly loves the trails.
"It's nice to have this, so I don't have to worry about traffic," he said.
Allen Siudzinski says he bikes nearly 20 miles a day. The Oak Leaf Trail is always a part of his trek.
"That'll be nice, keep that detour out of the way," he said. "It's because we had a detour last year. But yeah, I'm looking forward to going on the north side of the trail again."
Since 2010 Milwaukee County Parks has been battling standing water and trail erosion along this specific section of the trail. So in 2016, the Department was approved for a $700,000 budget to improve the trail. Construction started in late January, shutting the trail down for four weeks, forcing all the trail walkers to use the detours.
"I'm glad they opened it back up. I mean if I have to go around, I'll go around it won't stop me," said Connolly.
Milwaukee County Parks Trail Coordinator, Gage Brogan, says the 3,700 feet of the trail has been expanded an extra two feet and has proper drainage. These new improvements should accommodate the 3,000 trail visitors per day.
"The contractor said right when he put the drainage system in that water was immediately flowing out. So we know that the system is working," said Brogan.
The trail's construction is a two-part project, so construction will start again in April for at least five weeks.
