Oconomowoc-Watertown Interurban Trail progress on track for 2018 completion

Progress is being made toward creation of a trail to connect Watertown and Oconomowoc, with a GoFundMe page having been started.

The nonprofit Watertown Share the Road started the page to raise money to help create a black-top-paved off-road, 11-mile multiuse trail connecting the two communities.

The trail would be transformed from what was a former electric rail line into a non-motorized bike and pedestrian trail, according to the GoFundMe page. It would allow cyclists to ride from the northern end of Watertown’s Glacial River Trail east to Lake Michigan. That trail would also connect to other trails, such as the Lake Country Trail and Milwaukee’s Hank Aaron Trail.

An agreement with We Energies will allow use its right-of-way corridor for the route.

So far, there are enough funds — about $500,000 — to complete the first phase. That includes 2.26 miles of trail and one bridge crossing.

Major contributors include the state Department of Natural Resources, which awarded a Wisconsin Stewardship grant of $179,000 and a Recreational Trail Act grant of $45,000; Jefferson County, which donated $82,000; the Greater Watertown Area Health Foundation, which donated $100,000; an anonymous donor, who contributed $50,000; and Watertown’s Earl and Eugenia Quirk Foundation, which donated $20,000, according to Jefferson County Parks Director Joe Nehmer.

The GoFundMe page is attempting to raise about $2 million to allow additional phases to be completed.

A pre-engineering feasibility study estimated the cost of the entire project at $5.14 million.

“We’re hoping with hard work, creativity and some efficiencies to significantly reduce that $5 million price tag, and clearly, we can’t do it without the many partners that we so respect that have joined us on this project,” Nehmer said.

According to Nehmer, the city of Watertown has already done some of the work to help the project’s first phase, which is expected to be completed in 2018.

David Schroeder, president of Baker-Rullman Manufacturing in Watertown and a community volunteer with the Interurban Trail Committee, said that along with providing a safe place for cyclists, one of the benefits of the trail is that it can help with economic development.

“I don’t care if it’s two people or if it’s 2,000 people; if they’re coming to my town and they’re eating food and staying in hotels, or they’re getting an ice cream cone, I don’t care,” Schroeder said. “Then the other thing is that if you’re trying to encourage workers to come to town, or businesses to come to town, you want to have those secondary softer things like parks and green spaces and biking areas that can connect them, that they can do in their free time.”