Susan Stauber, coordinator of the Egg Harbor (and Beyond) Trails Initiative, was one of the panelists at a recent trail building event in Madison. Submitted.
Local bike enthusiasts at the Bike Fed event
The Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission (Bay-Lake RPC) has just launched a $127,000 feasibility study for an Egg Harbor-to-Sister Bay bike and pedestrian trail, Egg Harbor (and beyond) Trails Initiative coordinator Susan Stauber said May 2 after returning from a panel discussion at a trail builder’s event in Madison hosted by the Wisconsin Bike Federation and the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation.
A grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (Wis-DOT) Transportation Alternatives Program, secured by Gibraltar City Administrator Travis Thyssen, covered 80 percent of the study’s costs. Stauber said Thyssen is seeking additional grants to cover additional costs.
Heena Bhatt, transportation planner for Bay-Lake RPC, said the planned Bayshore Connectivity Trail is an approximately 16-mile, multi-jurisdictional project that will connect the northern end of the village of Egg Harbor to the southern end of the village of Sister Bay via the towns of Egg Harbor, Gibraltar and Liberty Grove; part of Peninsula State Park; and the village of Ephraim.
Bhatt said public feedback will be collected this summer and fall. Recommended trail options should be available in early 2025, and an open house for the study’s design should be held in early summer 2025. Once the options are developed, people will have a chance to provide feedback again in early summer 2025 through informational events and open houses.
Bhatt said Bay-Lake RPC employees will also attend farmers markets and other events in northern Door County.
“We will join Bay-Lake wherever possible this summer and fall as they look to engage the community,” Stauber said. “This continues to be a unified effort with a lot of resource sharing between the municipalities, Bay-Lake, stakeholders, supporters and volunteers.”
To follow research updates and learn about outreach dates, visit bayshoretrail-doorcounty-baylakerpc.hub.arcgis.com.
The survey says
Thyssen this week outlined the basic questions that will appear in the surveys. The questions cover topics such as age, where people live or spend most of their time, how often they walk or bike, what type of trail they would like to have, and how often — and when — they would utilize the multi-use trail. The survey also asks about concerns about the potential trail and whether respondents have children who attend or will attend the Gibraltar School District.
Featured at Bike Fed Summit
In April, Stauber, volunteer Greg De Tennis and Chris Morgan, a National Park Service representative in Egg Harbor, attended the Wisconsin Bike Federation Healthy Communities Summit.
During their stay, Morgan and Stauber advised participants on coalition-building and trail-building strategies. Stauber also served on the “Building Coalitions to Build Trails” panel, where she emphasized the importance of partnering with neighboring communities to achieve shared goals.
Speakers included Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, author/journalist Jessie Singer and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
The Egg Harbor Initiative has released a novel map of preferred trail corridors, both in the town and village of Egg Harbor and north to Sister Bay. Stauber said the map shows a route on County Road G between the Egg Harbor beaches and Frank E. Murphy County Park, but her group will push for an off-road trail on one side of Cty G or the other, if possible.
