Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE PAVED portion of the regional non-motorized trail is likely to be expanded, with the Ironwood City Commission expected to approve use of the funds to extend the blacktop to U.S. 51 at the commission's Sept. 14 meeting. Once approved, the paving is expected to be completed some time this fall.
IRONWOOD - The Ironwood City Commission is expected to hear a request to authorize the remaining funds generated by the "Bridge the Gap" campaign be used to extend the paved portion of the regional trail from the Montreal River to U.S. 51, according to Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi.
According to Pinardi, he and the University of Wisconsin Iron County Extension Office's Will Andresen met with city officials, including Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson, on Friday to discuss using the remaining funds.
Pinardi said the meeting went well and Erickson is going to take the request to turn $10,000 over to the city of Hurley to the Ironwood City Commission at its next meeting on Sept. 14.
The successful "Bridge the Gap" fund-raising campaign began after bids for construction of the first section of the regional trail came in higher than expected. The high bids meant that improvements to the railroad trestle connecting Hurley to Ironwood needed to be removed from the project's budget unless additional funding could be raised. While the campaign had a stated goal of $50,000, donations totaled around $60,000. It's the remaining $10,000 that will go to extend the paved portion of the trail to the highway and create the space for a trailhead in Hurley, Pinardi said.
The extension of the pavement and development of the trailhead is key to continuing the regional trail which is planned to run between the ski trails in Montreal, Wis., and Sunday Lake in Wakefield. Ultimately, the regional trail is planned to connect to other trails in Wisconsin and Michigan - including the Iron Belle Trail, running from Detroit to Ironwood - allowing Gogebic Range residents to explore large parts of both states.
Pinardi said the only change in the project's expected cost of $10,000 could come if Ross Peterson's subcontractor, Angelo Luppino, Inc., of Iron Belt, changed its rates. If this happened, Pinardi said he was fairly confident the city and Iron County would be able to cover the overages.
"We'll have enough to finish it. If we have to kick in a couple of bucks extra, we will."
Peterson and Luppino were the companies that built the first portion of the trail, running from the Montreal River to the Ironwood city limits, that was completed this summer.
Pinardi said he didn't foresee objections to the request, just as he doesn't expect there to be any issues with the Hurley's acceptance of the money at the Hurley City Council meeting on Sept. 15.
"The city commissioners are going to forward this money over to the city of Hurley ... I'm sure that we are gladly going to accept this $10,000 with open arms," Pinardi said. "And I talked to Ross Peterson today and he said he is on board with finishing it up at the rate they had before, (so) I'm sure that we'll be able to finish (the trail) yet this fall."
He added that a majority of the donations came from Wisconsin residents and that the city would benefit from people beginning the trail in Hurley and coming into Ironwood, making it a relatively easy decision for commissioners to make.
Once the paving of the area between the river and U.S. 51 is complete, the completion of the trailhead will be able to continue with the installation of benches, tables, bike racks and signs that have been constructed by the Hurley School District's Northwoods Manufacturing and already purchased by the extension office using other grant funding, according to Pinardi.
