Fox Point Gets Footpath on Green Tree Road

Tom Clark said when his kids were little, he wouldn't let them walk down Green Tree Road because traffic would go by so quickly.

Janice Pfaffl said in the summer, she and her children would have to walk through the debris in the ditch because speeding cars making walking along the shoulder unsafe.

However, these residents will soon have safer passage along Green Tree Road with a new footpath.

"That's great news if you ask me. It's about time the village made it safe for pedestrians to get around. Now they need a footpath on Calumet, Bradley and Dean," resident Rachael Herrenbruck said in a Facebook post.

The new, 2,400-foot path will cost $78,056 and begin at the Fox Point/Glendale border, stretching down to Lake Drive on the north side of Green Tree Road. Scott Brandmeier, director of public works, said with the Village Board's approval last week, this project will be incorporated into the already approved Green Tree Road reconstruction.   

The conceptual plan for the footpath by Fox Point engineering firm Kapur & Associates suggests that only four trees will need to be removed to install the four-foot-wide asphalt path and the one-foot-wide gravel buffer. However, Brandmeier suggested that they may be able to be replaced within the village's current because they are ash trees.

About 400 feet of additional stormwater and sanitary sewer lines will be added as part of this project, as well as nine drop-in grates in between the driveways to allow water to drain.

At the July Village Board meeting, trustees to help fund the reconstruction of Green Tree Road. However, those grants required additional changes, including widening of Green Tree Road. After numerous comments against widening the road from residents, the board voted to not utilize the grant money. 

"I’m in support of the footpath for three primary reasons," Robertson said. "It will provide and improve safe passage for pedestrians, it facilitates access to one of the village’s commercial centers, and it increases the opportunity for recreational walking and running for village residents."

Brandmeier said construction could begin as early as this spring.