Mayor of Portage Austin Bonta gave the following update on the Portage Trails System on his Facebook page:
“At this point, the Prairie Duneland Trail has been cleared of poison hemlock and is now open again.
After the last two storms, if possible that trees may go down over the next couple days. We’ll be looking out to handle them, but please be careful if traveling through.
Regarding the bigger topic of trails, we’ve had time to go over it as a team and we have made the decision to complete a project to clear the trails of all overgrowth over this year through our city’s Public Works Team.
Trails in Portage have been “overgrown” my whole life growing up here, and, for many residents, we’ve gotten used to them being that way. Some have complained on and off, but many have just accepted how they are.
After reviewing the state of the trails and going over what we can do and how long it will take take to do the work, we are now moving to get the equipment and the schedule put together to clear the overgrowth and then maintain the paved trails in a clean state from then on.
There will be gradual improvements in the summer, but the significant work will be in the fall and early winter of this year due to scheduling and equipment needs.
We will do our best to document progress and share it with the public, but the real news will be as more residents and guests find their way back to the trails.”