APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Appleton is unveiling new plans for its property along the river. The city has a number of projects in the works.
Soon Appleton will own and control three former Canadian National railroad trestles.
City spokesman Chad Doran tells WLUK the plan is to turn them into trails.
“It will help us connect trails that already exist to other trails. It will also connect our parks with our trails”
The trestles span different areas of the Fox River.
One connects the area around Pullman’s restaurant to the Paper Discovery Center and Fratello’s restaurant. Another connects the RiverHeath apartments to the Newberry Trail. The third links Lawe Street and the former Foremost Dairy site.
The city has been in talks with the railroad for about a decade. Wednesday Appleton’s Common Council voted to take ownership.
Now, Doran says it’s on to the next steps.
“Funding the creation of these trestles, turning them from trestles into usable, walk-able paths that people can enjoy,”
Doran says the trestles could include amenities like viewing and fishing platforms.
“Our hope is to do some design work here, possibly as early as next year and then construction soon after that”
Which will go hand in hand for the city’s plans to build a new park along the river.
Parks Director Dean Gazza says the hope is to get construction on that going by 2019.
“Our idea is to try to do the construction with the trestle trail so both can be done together”
That will be the Ellen Kort Peace Park, which will be accessible by Water Street and one of the newly acquired trestles.
“The two of them together really make that a special place. With that connection we’ll be able to get from one side of the city to the other and we’ll be able to get up through Jones Park and there’ll be a connection to the downtown”
The city revealed some preliminary designs for the new park Thursday. The park is named after Ellen Kort an Appleton native and Wisconsin’s first state poet laureate.
Doran says the point of these projects is to try to make the most of the river.
“We know that people wanna use this resource and we’re trying to make it as accessible as possible”
The projects are still in the planning stages.. so at this time, there’s no set budget for either one.
