Mary Knoll Park's Greenway Trail nearly finished

If you use Sunnyslope Road, you may have noticed some construction going on in the woods south of Mary Knoll Park at Kinsey Park Drive.


This is the latest section of the Greenway Corridor Recreational Trail.

According to Bill Kolstad, Brookfield's Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, the 8 foot wide paved trail segment measures about 3,350 feet in length. There is also 480 feet of 6' wide pavement. (The narrower width seems to be used for the connection spurs to the neighborhoods.)

This segment of the trail system will cost about $175,000.

The money comes primarily from the cell tower lease fees the City of Brookfield charges the cell phone companies to put up towers in our city.

Brookfield gets between $200,000 - $300,000 each year in lease payments. The park department gears its new Greenway projects to stay within this dollar amount.

Kolstad informed me that we also benefited from $135,00 in DNR matching grants over the past 5 years.

(That would be free :) money.)


The project began in October and the majority of the work was completed by late November.

The trail basically cuts through Mary Knoll Park but also has 2 connectors to the neighborhoods to the south.

From Kinsey Park Drive, the trail heads west, across the school district land, to the open field in the park. (Pictured in back of the bobcat. Play structure is to the north-right-from here.)

The trail heads to the south end of the field and continues west. There is a paved connection to the tennis courts to the north, pictured here, on the west side of the field.


Tennis courts are on horizon next to pine tree.

Before you get to the field, there is a connector to Silver Mist Court to the south of the trail.







A word of caution: I would be wary of sending children to the park alone.
The play structure is not visible from the road. Plus, the park is quite isolated; it invites certain activity.

My neighbor and I used to see 2 cars park on our street (Kinsey Park Dr.) several times a week. The drivers (1 man, 1 woman) would get a pillow and blankets out of one car and then head over to the park over the noon hour. We dubbed them the lovers.

Another neighbor recently surprised a different couple who should have gone to a hotel if you catch my drift.

Because of the isolation, many adults in our neighborhood are even hesitant to use the park.

I am not a fan of the Greenway Corridor Recreation Trail system, primarily because of the expense for construction, maintenance, and snow removal. But it is something our city has decided to fund. Check it out.

Links:

Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Jay Weber, Mark Levin, Vicki Mckenna