Wright County Trail and Bikeway Plan Ready for Review

Attached is a copy of The Wright County Draft Trail and Bikeway Plan for review and comment.  After reviewing the plan, feel free to make comments by clicking on or copying and pasting the following link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WCTRAILPLAN

The plan will also be presented at two community meetings this June.  The first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, 2011 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at Clearwater City Hall (605 County Road 75, Clearwater, MN 55320).  The second meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 6, 2011 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the Wright County Public Works Building in Buffalo (1901 Highway 25 North, Buffalo, MN 55313).  A summary of the plan will be presented at 7:00 p.m. 

The goal of the Trail and Bikeway Master Plan is to improve county-wide connectivity and to foster active living.  The Wright County Plan is a guide for future bikeway and trail development, operations, and implementation.  The Plan was funded by a grant from the Statewide Health Improvement Program and Live Wright.  The public is invited to view the Plan, hear a brief presentation, and offer ideas and suggestions.  The Plan can also be viewed on-line from May 27th forward.  Input from the public, County officials, and County staff will help shape the final plan which is likely to be presented to the County Board in late June/early July.  The Draft Plan is based on an evaluation of the County with input from townships, cities, and the public.  Forty-five people attended two open house meetings in February, and 140 people completed a trail and bikeway questionnaire.  The County Parks Commission also provided input.  Key findings from the community input are:     

• The need for more trails and bikeways in parks and along scenic areas such as lakes and rivers.      
• The desire for more paved off-road trails, loop trails, and bikeway loops.    
• The need to connect Wright County to existing and planned State and regional trails such as the Luce Line, the Lake Wobegon Trail, and trails in Hennepin County.

Funding is tight right now, and this Plan will be used as a long-term guide to help ensure that appropriate decisions are made about the location of future trails and bikeways and to help Wright County coordinate facilities, trails, and plans with the State, cities, and other counties. 

The Draft Plan recommends adding regional trails and bikeways parallel to the Crow and Mississippi Rivers, around lakes, and within county parks.  The Plan also calls for new trails to be built when highways are rebuilt and to create bike routes and pedestrian and bike friendly roads by having paved shoulders on new and rebuilt County State Aid roadways.  The Plan includes a “legacy” (100-200 years from now) proposal which offers the potential to have a nature area and trails paralleling the North Fork of the Crow River. 

Draft Plan