HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 07-13 Two bicycle routes in planning stages WHITE BEAR PRESS7/13/2016 Two bicycle routes in planning stages - Your local online newspaper: News
Two bicycle routes in planning stages
By Debra Neutkens/Editor I Posted: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 9:00 am
MAPLEWOOD Cost estimates for extending the Bruce
Vento Regional Trail to Highway 96 are $5.5 to $6 million,
according to the Ramsey County Parks and Recreation
Department.
The county's director of planning and development, Scott
Yonke, noted most of the funding for the project, still in the
early planning stages, would come through federal funding
and a small portion from the Legacy Amendment. The
application for federal funding is due July 15. Yonke said the
estimate includes both construction and potential acquisition
costs.
While the Vento trail is a county project, another proposed
bike route through White Bear Lake is a
MnDOT project.
U.S. Bike Route 41 (USBR) is part of an Adventure Cycling
Association program to map out a national bike route system.
Last month, representatives from MnDOT hosted an open
house revealing a proposed alignment for the 325 -mile route,
which stretches from St. Paul to Grand Portage State Park via
White Bear Lake.
Two bicycle routes in planning
stages
Mike Brooks offers suggestions on the bike
route at the open house while MnDOT
consultant Fay Simer stands by for
questions.
The transportation department has identified Route 41 as a priority corridor in its statewide bicycle system
plan. It will be Minnesota's second route. No. 45 the Mississippi River Trail is the first. As of October
2015, 11,053 miles of bicycle routes have been established in 23 states.
The route combines existing roads and trails and will connect to communities, points of interest and the
businesses and services bicyclists need.
Project manager Liz Walton attended the open house to gather public input. If all planning and map work is
completed this summer, she said, MnDOT intends to designate the route in October 2016. If not complete,
the route will be designated next May.
Walkability/bicycling advocate Mike Brooks thinks the route is a "big opportunity for the White Bear area"
that will have a positive impact. He also hopes it will aid in completion of the Bruce Vento Regional Trail
north to the county line.
Walton said MnDOT is looking for a route that's "ready to rock," adding it will, and should, evolve.
For maps and resources to ride an established USBR, visit
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7/13/2016 Two bicycle routes in planning stages - Your local online newspaper: News
www.adventurecycling.org.
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