Superior Councilors Propose Year-Round Connection To City Trail

SUPERIOR, Wis. – Two Superior city councilors are hoping to score $80,000 in excess tourism tax dollars to make a pathway in the municipal forest usable all year long as a connecting trail across town to the Osage Trail.

Councilors Brent Fennessey and Craig Sutherland say the pathway in the forest is only open for snowmobiles in the winter months right now because the path is full of heavy brush and growth – other than trees.

But they say an investment into an actual trail system surface would allow for bikers, walkers and joggers to also use the land during the spring, summer and fall.

“The problem with this trail is there’s such a short window of really usable time, and what we are looking to do is just open it up so we can use it 12 months out of the year,” Fennessey said.

Both councilors believe an all-year round trail from Billings Park through town to Barker’s Island is the way to stay competitive with Duluth’s growing trail system.

“When we have bikers in groups going across the bridge in Duluth, they are spending money over there. And I think if we can keep that in our own city, we can only gain from that,” explained Sutherland.

At Thursday’s finance committee meeting, the trail connection idea will go up against Mayor Jim Paine’s idea – also worth nearly $80,000 – to lease rental bike stations in the city for two years like Minneapolis is known for.

Fennessey and Sutherland believe the city’s infrastructure is not ready for that big-city bike rental system and at that cost.