--- Anonymous <anonymous-comment@blogger.com> wrote:
---------------------------------
We need a motel in Evansville. A bicyle trail
starting or running through Evansville would be great,
too. There is an abandoned railroad right of way that
branches off the Union Pacific line south of Water St.
and goes to Beloit. I think it goes through Footville
and Hanover as well. At least near Evansville, the
rails and ties already have been removed. That would
be a prime location for a bicycle trail. Bicyclists
from the Chicago area could start in Beloit and ride
up to stay in Evansville. If someone would like to
make obtaining state funding for a bicycle trail their
personal crusade, we'd all appreciate it.
Bill Connors
Evansville City Administrator
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Posted by Anonymous to Evansville Observer at
8/25/2005 07:31:35 AM
Update from the Observer--Mr. Connors comments were from an earlier post about the hotel and bike shop in Brodhead. Because he said he was looking for someone to take up the task of getting a bike trail, I thought I would put the comment on the post line for all to comment on.
ReplyDeleteSo, the confusion was not in his comment but in my editing. The two ideas did go together in Brodhead.
The Observer
I doubt this would be possible. If this abondoned railroad tracks is the one that goes to Footville, the land has reverted back to the owners of the adjancent land. Roads and houses have been built over the tracks, some has been changed into farm land, and all the bridges are now removed. Where this has not happened, nature has taken its course over the approximately 25 years since the tracks were removed.
ReplyDeleteYou know its a nice thought, a bike trail to or around Evansville, where people could bike to and check Evansville out and see what there is to see. HOWEVER every time I hear city officials talk about a path that people could take from down by union street and walk up into the down town areas and shop, I think of New Glarus. There town has a variety of different stores that have been there for some time and do quite well, they pull in alot of business every year. This is not New Glarus, and quite frankly we don't have that many ' unusual' shop that are going to draw alot of people. It seems like the down town area has a hard enough time keeping what stores they have going. If people are going to shop in a little town, they are alot of times looking for different shops, not your normal type of business's like the hardware store and the pharmacy. The antique shop is nice, but there hours aren't. The craft shop everyother time I come into town it seems like they have changed there days and times they are open. Some of these business's harm themselves in the way they are run. If people come all the way from lets say beloit, they are probably going to be pretty miffed to find the antique store and craft store only open certains times and days.I have even come to town to shop and found one of these stores closed during hours it said it should be open. So before you go putting any big plans into play, I think you need to fix some things first or it will all be for nothing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dick, for providing the context of my remarks.
ReplyDeleteI am quite serious. For starters, I guess someone would need to research and determine if it is true that much of the right of way has reverted to private landowners, and if so, how far the right of way goes from Evansville before it disappears. If there is a significant number of uninterupted miles left, or long stretches with short interruptions, the next step would to contact the offices of State Sen. Erpenbach and State Rep. Davis and see what kind of state funding is available. This is a project that will take a lot of time, so that is why I wrote that someone would need to make this their personal crusade.
If the bicyclists started coming to Evansville, the cute shops would open here, and then more tourists would come.
Bill Connors
Evansville City Administrator
I'd like to see both bed & breakfasts and a motel. By the way, the women who run Real Coffee obtained a conditional use permit to operate a bed & breakfast in their house, but that was some time ago, and I don't know if they still plan to do that.
ReplyDeleteBill Connors
Evansville City Administrator
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletedon't know if it would bring a substantial amount of business to Evansville or not, but it certainly would do no harm from a business standpoint. Even if a trail didn't have a major economic impact to the downtown area, I think it would be a positive for the city from a recreation and leisure standpoint.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine securing public funding would be tough with all of the budget cuts we face now. Many years ago, I supported a bike trail in the town I grew up in by participating in a pay per mile bike-A-thon. Perhaps adding some sort of private funding/ fundraising would make this more feasible?