SHERWOOD, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — An effort is underway to link High Cliff State Park to the Fox Cities.
A local foundation is donating $100,000 to help identify the best route for bikers and pedestrians to get to High Cliff State Park on the Northeast side of Lake Winnebago.
At the intersection of Highway 114, and U.S. Highway 10, known locally as Plank Road and South Oneida Street, Robert Benada is out for a morning ride.
“I do this a couple times a year. It’s 15 miles one way out from Doty Island,” said Robert Benada, Neenah.
He says traffic Friday morning wasn’t too bad.
“The way they’ve done the light, and the walk lights, it takes a little while. You got to wait, but I feel very safe crossing there,” said Benada.
Benada is on his way to High Cliff State Park.
“Right now, I wouldn’t dream of going along 114. It’s just too busy, because there’s not a good shoulder there, but that would be a shorter way over,” he said.
An effort is underway to help find a better way for bicyclists and pedestrians to get from the Fox Cities, to High Cliff State Park. The announcement of a $100,000 grant from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region was made at a news conference in Menasha.
“This is something that’s been a dream for a long time. So we finally have all the partners working together, in so many municipalities, and units of government,” said Curt Detjen, Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region President and CEO.
The proposed route runs through multiple jurisdictions, in two different counties. The section closest to the park includes traveling through a neighborhood.
“I think any option is on the table, and we’re going to go through that process to see what is that most convenient, safest, and feasible connection,” said Kim Biedermann, East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator.
And after more than an hour, Robert Benada made it to High Cliff.
“Glad to be here safe and sound, and I really appreciate all the different Fox Cities, and the efforts they made to making things a nice place to bicycle,” he said.
Officials say they plan to have a consultant in place by mid-summer, and the recommendations should be ready in about a year.
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