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A bike’s-eye view of the north shore of Lake Waubesa, on the state’s longest combined bridge and boardwalk, is only a year away.

Construction began Wednesday on the Lower Yahara River Trail, a 2 1/2-mile link connecting Lake Farm County Park in Madison to McDaniel Park in the village of McFarland. Its centerpiece is a mile of water-crossing structures putting bicyclists as close to the lake as possible.

The bridge/boardwalk will be Wisconsin’s longest pedestrian and bicycle trail structure not previously used by trains or motor vehicles.

The bridge will be close to a railroad trestle at the north end of Lake Waubesa, with an accessible fishing pier also planned in that stretch of the new trail.

Plans for the trail started about eight years ago. It has taken this long to get the myriad entities to put it all together, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Natural Resources, three local governments and the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad.

“We are excited to begin construction on this long-anticipated project, and thankful to have the Department of Transportation as a partner to assist us in completing this very complex first phase of trail construction,” said County Executive Joe Parisi.