PRESCOTT – “You are an anchor community and an anchor county as well,” Sherry Quamme, Chairperson of the Wisconsin Minnesota River Parkway Commission (WMRPC) told the Prescott City Council on Nov. 25. She then introduced Pierce County Board Supervisor Kris Sampson and Francis Schelfhout of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) and Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, thanking them for attending.

Schelfhout began, “There’s a statewide effort to get the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) designated through the State of Wisconsin.”

The project is a collaboration between the Parkway Commission, the Department of Transportation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission, which oversees 10 counties. He shared that the Mississippi River Trail runs along both sides of the river, spanning 3,000 miles across 10 states. He said Wisconsin has 250 miles of that and eight states have route signage and bicycle route designation so far, but Wisconsin does not.

“So, we’re behind,” he commented. He added that primarily they are there to aim for that eventual signage but to get to that point some things have to happen. “The 10-state organization is aiming to get the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) a designated US bike route,” Schelfhout said. In order to gain US bike route status, a resolution has to be acquired from every community that the route runs through based upon municipal limits. Resolutions will need to be secured from 78 communities.

Schelfhout highlighted the key benefits of the bike route designation, emphasizing the economic impact as the most significant. He explained that having a U.S. bike route pass through the community can attract cross-country riders, who often participate in long-distance trips that last from a day to a weekend or even several days.

“It brings tourism money. That’s the biggest economic thing,” he said.

He also mentioned the health benefits, stating, “Anytime you get anything that encourages outdoor activities and recreational uses as health benefits not only to the community but our population as a whole.”

Schelfhout explained that once all the necessary resolutions are obtained, they can formally file for both state and U.S. bike route designations with those resolutions. He also shared the criteria used to optimize the local route, which includes factors such as proximity to the river—since the route is named the Mississippi River Trail—access to key destinations, low vehicle traffic volumes, slower speed limits, available bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and the quality of the route surface. He added that they also considered the county’s bicycle conditions map.

 “We look to get as close to the river as we possibly can without dead ending it,” he remarked.

Schelfhout then presented an alternate route to the council bypassing Prescott’s downtown area.

“Although it takes you off of the main road, and you know, lower volumes, lower speeds, it’s only for about two blocks and we felt that it would do more of a disservice to the businesses on the east side of 35 than it would be for the betterment for just those two blocks for the gain,” he said.

Explaining the necessity of the resolutions being passed, Schelfhout said, “The resolutions are necessary for us to make the US bike route status versus a letter of support. It is based on municipal boundaries not by jurisdiction of the roadway.”

Each sign installation will cost $250 to $350 and life expectancy of the sign is 10-15 years. He added that legislators have proposed to pursue a funding stream for the maintenance of the bike route roadway or trail.

“So, it’ll never be a burden on the municipalities that it runs through,” Schelfhout said.

Alderperson Maureen Otwell commented, “I am all in favor of this designation. I think this is what’s happening in the community already and it will just be helpful to the cyclists who are currently using the Great River Road in knowing where they are and that kind of thing.”

She expressed appreciation for a specified bike lane highlighting the dangers of inexperienced cyclists riding in vehicle lanes.

“I just would really like to see that a better pathway is put in, not for the whole road but just while it’s in the City of Prescott up to the Great River Road Learning Center from the Main Street downtown,” Otwell said.

Alderperson Adam Granquist expressed his agreement.

“As far as the alternate route that we have laid out on here, I do agree. I think that that’s a good idea to do that especially when this is going to be used a lot which is in the summertime there’s a lot of the vehicle traffic in that intersection and so to kind of route all the bikers away from that and up the path and then up over the bridge, I think is a good idea,” Granquist said.

Alderperson John Peterson asked Granquist to clarify if he believed it was best to have the alternate route as the primary route or he believes it’s good to have an alternate route down Front Street.

“We’re picking one or the other, correct?” he asked City Administrator Matt Wolf for confirmation, mentioning that he liked the route closer to the river. “Our downtown is not exactly conducive to bicyclists,” he added.

Granquist said the likelihood of more bicyclist traffic if the designation goes through is imminent. 

Sampson approached the council and remarked, “Certainly we see the volume of visitors that come to Prescott and visit Freedom Park so any ability to get more people there and more nationwide designation of our location is only a benefit to Prescott.”

The council approved the resolution to support the designation of the Mississippi River Trail through the alternate route within the limits of the City of Prescott.