Andy Hubley, director of the Regional Planning Division of the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) came before the Tofte Town board on January 9, 2014 to discuss the Gitchi-Gami State Bike Trail.
Hubley said that the 1.1-mile unfinished stretch of the Gitchi- Gami Trail through Tofte could be completed this summer. At a cost of about $900,000 per mile, funds for construction will come from the ARDC, Safe Routes to Schools, the state, and a variety of other governmental sources, Hubley said to the board.
Hubley is partnering with the Gitchi-Gami Trail Association (GGTA), which is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization formed to work with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on the planning, development, construction and maintenance of the trail.
To date, 29 out of 86 miles of trail have been developed, said Hubley.
When completed, the trail will be an 88-mile non-motorized, paved path between Two Harbors and Grand Marais. Hikers, joggers and in-line skaters also use the trail.
Originally the plan was for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDot) to build the trail as they worked to repair and upgrade various stretches of Highway 61. But Hubley told the board that the repair work for the Highway 61 stretch through Tofte was on MnDot’s backburner, and it meant that the 1.1-mile Gitchi- Gami trail through town wouldn’t be finished anytime soon unless ARDC, along with GGTA, took it under their wing.
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