Rountree Branch Trail in Platteville Hosts Grand Opening
- September 15, 2016
- Community
- Posted by Website Administrator
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A grand opening ceremony was held tonight for the David Canny Rountree Branch Trail, celebrating the completion of a project that required hundreds of hours of volunteer time and $1.47 million in cash contributions.
Runde Auto Group is proud to have supported the 3-mile paved and lighted trail and we were excited to see our name on a plaque at the beginning of the trail and on the 1-mile marker!
About 100 people attended the grand opening for the Rountree Branch Trail, which included a ribbon-cutting. Speakers noted how important a trail system is to the quality of life for area residents, but also for economic development in the area.
“The Rountree Branch Trail is one of the top amenities that people look for when looking to move to a community — is there a trail infrastructure,” said Drew Nussbaum, of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. “Is there somewhere I can go outside and get some fresh air?”
Along the Rountree Branch Trail, there are gardens, a gazebo, benches, artistic bike racks, and historical kiosks. Tornado-damaged trees were removed, trail-side invasives were reduced, and the trail connection to Main Street was begun.
State Senator Mark Miller was in attendance, and said he was happy to suppo
rt the trail.
“Congratulations on the completion of an outstanding project,” he said. “It’s easy for me to support grant applications like this one where the wind is at our back and the community is rallying behind it.”
A portion of the trail, from the UW-Platteville campus to Mineral Street, was dedicated to
David Canny, whose idea it was to create the trail. He passed away in 2010. His wife, Karen, spoke at the ceremony.
“In David’s own words before he passed away, ‘This is what a wonderful community can do working together toward one man’s dreams,'” Karen said.
A Belmont-to-Platteville trail will connect to this one in the future.
The Rountree Branch Trail project was made possible through a team including the Platteville Community Arboretum, Platteville Community Fund, Building Platteville, the City of Platteville, and more than 1,500 donors.
