The Perry City Council’s planned bid letting for proposed improvements to the Wiese Park trail stalled Monday night when concerns over the route were raised by council members.
“I have a problem with the route of the plan for a couple of reasons,” Council member Barb Wolling said, “primarily because of safety.”
Wolling said the present walking path is “one of the more heavily used trails” in Wiese Park, attracting “elderly people walking, people walking dogs, mothers walking strollers with babies, lots of young children and lots of small bicycles.”
The connector trail between the Raccoon River Valley Trail and the High Trestle Trail is expected to carry a high volume of bicycle traffic to Perry, and much of it will pass along the widened Wiese Park trail.
“I think that we’ll regret it if we add a significant amount of bicycle traffic to that mix,” Wolling said. “It just scares the hell out of me to have a bunch of bicycles among a bunch of pedestrians.”
She said she was concerned about “liability issues” arising from conflicts and collisions on even a 10-foot-wide trail, as called for in the proposed bid documents. The contract calls for the removal of about 600 square yards of the current pavement and the paving of about 1,000 square yards using Portland cement concrete.
“If we can provide an alternate route to keep the bicycle traffic off of the trail, it’d be better off in the long run,” Wolling said, “even if it costs a little bit more money. All it takes is one liability issue, and we’ve blown all the money we saved by utilizing the trail that exists.”
Wolling was ready to offer an alternate idea. She proposed putting the trail through the stand of timber to the north of Wiese Park, a section of the former Milwaukee Railroad right of way now owned by the Perry Community School District.
“I wonder if we can work with the school board to access that parallel trail that goes through the timber just north of there,” she said, “to bring it just north of that trail so that we’re not interrupting the flow of traffic in Wiese Park.”
Cheri Scheib of rural Perry, a leader of the connector trail fundraising committee and the moving spirit behind the Let’s Connect Big Bike, asked permission to address the council. She said her conversations with Clark Wicks, Superintendent of the Perry Community School District, led her to believe Wolling’s proposal would meet with favor from the Perry Community School District Board of Directors.
“Clark Wicks and I actually had gone out there last fall,” Scheib said, “and he said we could figure something out.” She said the tree-lined path and timber is no longer used as an outdoor classroom by the Perry Elementary School and now receives little in the way of upkeep.
“I wondered if they might just give it to the city,” she said. “Maybe you guys could buy it for a dollar. I don’t know, but it’s beautiful. When you go in through there, it’s a tunnel of trees, and what a great feeling it is for you to come into Perry, and all of a sudden you open up into Wiese Park, and maybe we’d have some art, as we’ve talked about before, some art along the trail.”
Council member Dean Berkland agreed a trail through the timber would be pleasant.
“It is gorgeous,” he said. “It curves down through there. It’s kind of a neat thing if the schools would let us use it.” Berkland also asked whether “instead of using the school spot, we could go straight long the hard edge right by the trees and make a straight shot there and leave that loop blacktopped for the walkers. I don’t know if that’s possible, but that would be a great idea.”
Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson noted the trail paving project “is being funded by the Wiese Foundation with the funds they give us, and we can’t use those funds outside of Wiese Park.”
“If we could extend Wiese Park by 50 feet, would they do that?” Wolling said.
“We would have to go through Wiese Foundation to ask them to add space to their funding scenario,” Peterson said. He reminded the council that planning for the Wiese Park bicycle trail has been in the works for a decade or more.
“This is just kind of a continuation of the project we’ve been doing out there for probably about 10 years,” Peterson said. “It’s been in the planning phase to do this exact project for about that long if not longer. I think a 10-foot trail is generally wide enough to be a shared-use path for pedestrians and all others.”
Peterson also noted Perry Parks and Recreation Director John Anderson has “worked with the Park Board on setting this route and putting this project together.”
“I’m sure they had the best intentions,” said Council member Chuck Schott, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t change it.”
Council member Dr. Randy McCaulley, himself the former superintendent of the Perry Community School District, said “it would be at least prudent to talk to the school. They may be willing to just give us that property and make that part of Wiese.”
McCaulley asked whether there was a compelling reason to let the bids Monday night.
“If we have a better idea,” he said, “why would we want to go forward with a less-than-ideal plan if we have an opportunity to go through with something that might be better? I don’t see the sense in rushing this. Are we under some time obligation?”
Peterson said the city needs to spend some of the Wiese Foundation funds by June 30.
“We’re putting two years of funding from the Wiese Foundation together in order to save some money and do a larger project,” he said. “That’s why we’re able to finish out this trail all the way through the park.
The Wiese Foundation has made about $70,000 available to the city for the trail project, Peterson said.
“It sounds like Superintendent Wicks is more than willing to talk about this topic,” McCaulley said. “Why would we not want to talk to him? It’s worth at least talking about it.”
Schott joined Wolling and McCaulley in recommending more study before letting the bids for the project. He said the council could easily convene a special meeting if time constraints impose themselves.
“I think we need to have a second thought,” Schott said. “I agree with you guys. I haven’t liked the idea forever. I don’t like the whole idea of bringing them through Wiese Park forever. So I’m happy to join you.”
McCaulley moved to table the item and reconsider it at the council’s April 2 meeting. His motion carried unanimously.
When completed, the Wiese Park trail will help connect the High Trestle Trail to the Raccoon River Valley Trail, putting Perry in the unique position of hosting trailheads for both popular trails.
Thank you, Jim. It really would make for a gorgeous entry into Wiese Park, and the safety of the walkers and bikers is concerning. The amount of elderly walkers and children plus dogs on leashes worries me the most. I realize that it all comes down to money, but sometimes safety takes precedence over dollars.
Thank you for taking concern in Weise Park for elderly people walking there, safety for our pets on leases, baby strollers, etc. It is bad enough at present with kids/people on bicycles and skateboards. As I said earlier, an elderly lady was knocked down by a bicycle a few years ago. I find it dangerous walking my pet at present without more traffic on the walking path.