Bike Bridge

This past Monday my spouse and I took a short bike ride to the Lussier Heritage Center on Lake Farm Road, south of the Beltline. This approximate nine mile round trip would not have been possible about a week earlier. The difference a week makes is that the Lower Yahara Bike Trail opened. This was an expensive project, over $8 million, in large part due to it containing what is termed the longest bridge in North America solely for bicyclists and pedestrians. Due to wetlands, a good length is also a boardwalk which sits above wetlands. The Lower Yahara River Trail is 2.5 miles long and connects McDaniel Park in McFarland to the Capital City Trail, and to other regional trails. Additional phases of the trail will eventually connect south east to Stoughton. Interested persons can view varied videos of the trail at this link, just scroll down to find the subheading titled: 'Lower Yahara River Trail Construction Aerial Overview Videos.'

Phase 1 of the Lower Yahara River Trail
Source:  https://parks-lwrd.countyofdane.com/documents/pdf/LYRT_Sept2015.pdf

Of the 2.5 mile length of the trail, one mile is reported to be either boardwalk or bridge. That is a great deal of construction material. What amazed me was how well the screws in the deck boards lined up. There are some pull off areas, and the bridge also has ramps to taker persons closer to the water level, although one would have to jump over the railing to get in the water. The bridge and boardwalk basically parallel a railroad track for their length. I live a few hundred feet from that rail line, and the line is fairly busy. Sometimes I hear four or five trains a day. While the rail trestle does not sit up out of the water a great distance, one would not want to have walked along the trestle and have to jump off. Or, try to outrun as occurred in the movie “Stand By Me.” The bike trail was just the answer, and it took nine years to come to fruition. Just think of all those WIDNR permits!

County Executive Joe Parisi looking over the side of the bridge

Prior to construction of this bridge and trail, one would not have wanted to bike to Lake Farm County Park. Not only was the route significantly indirect, but it would require navigation of the massive intersections at the Beltline and USH 51. No sane person would wish to do that navigation. The boardwalk and bridge surface is constructed of a plastic “board”, whereas structurally it was both metal and wood construction. This expensive bridge project, which has a life span of fifty years, was well used that holiday Monday morning by not only bicyclists, but joggers, and walkers. As my wife noted, if we wanted to get to the Capital City Trail before we would have loaded the bikes onto the car and transported them to Lake Farm County Park to which we can then bike west through the Capital City State Recreation area. Or we could head northwest by the Nine Springs Sewage Treatment plant and connected with the Lake Monona trail. The bridge opens up a slew of options for bicycle enthusiasts and recreational users. I doubt it will make an impact to help reduce Beltline traffic. Although, another six or so miles west from where we stopped and I could be at work.

Trail boardwalk

With any new thing, there is controversy. The controversy is not so much over the $8 million price tag, but over bicyclists moving too fast; or do the signs mean no dogs at all or just those on leashes?; or whether McFarland should have a beer garden at McDaniel park to serve the trail users (the Mom's in the "McFarland Mom and Dad Facebook" group, from what I hear, seem to be against the beer garden idea, and the Green Lantern bar and restaurant is next door to McDaniel Park). Thank goodness for social media so persons can now gripe or vent online.

Opening of the trail bridge

As we were biking, I noticed one technology that is not just for the car. The wife app! Last year in June I wrote a post entitled “Traits” where I wrote about the existence of the wife app while driving. Readers will be pleased to hear that the wife app keeps me safe and sound while I bike.“You almost had an accident! You bike just like you drive!” was just one of the phrases the wife app blurted on our bike ride yesterday. What a great advertising slogan:  "The wife app, not just for the car!"  I am just glad that the wife app did not work when I was travelling behind her, otherwise she would have seen me bike a few times hands free. I was smart enough not do it while I was ahead of her. I suspect I just triggered the eyes in the back of her head for our next bike ride.  

Photos from Google images, unless otherwise noted