Staff photo/Rhonda Silence The Gitchi Gami State Trail “Onion River phase” ends near the Poplar River where this bridge is under construction.
Officials from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Department of Transportation (MnDOT) were at Lutsen Resort on Monday, June 22, 2009 with a large map of the Gitchi Gami State Trail showing which sections of the bicycle trail are completed; which are under construction; which are in the design phase; and which have yet to be started. TheOnion River and the Lutsen Phase One sections are the ones currently underway in Cook County.
According to John Hendrickson of MnDOT, the Onion River segment is being completed by KGM Contractors in conjunction with the reconstruction of Highway 61 through Tofte. The Onion River section includes an underpass beneath Highway 61 near the end of County Road 34. The underpass will require some blasting to create a 20-foot rock cut in which a 12-foot by 12-foot concrete box culvert will be installed.
Theunderpass fulfillsthe design goal of the Gitchi Gami State Trail to provide safe crossings. “We’re working on a design that is family-friendly with no at-grade crossings,” said Hendrickson.
MnDOT Engineering Technician Jenny Twiest explained that after crossing from the lower to the upper side of the highway, the trail will follow the power line until near Superior National at Lutsen golf course, where it will again run adjacent to the highway until its terminus at the Ski Hill Road (County Road 5). At the golf course, Twiest said trees would be planted to protect bikers and walkers from flying golf balls.
The trail bridge at the golf course, over the Poplar River, is at the end of Lutsen Phase One. The bridge construction was included in the Onion River project and has been partially completed by KGM Contractors. Johnson said the bridge should be completed in July 2009. However, the trail leading to it—connecting the highway underpass and the bridge—will not see the start of construction until 2010.
When asked if the trail was being moved inland to avoid swampy areas next to the highway, Hendrickson said that was not the case. He said the power line too, is very wet. But the project will not use fill material. “Rather than opening that can of worms, we are using an innovative technology to ‘float’ the trail. We’re putting down geo-textile fabric—and a lot of culverts,” he said.
Hendrickson said instead of constructing one or two large culverts, changing the water flow on the hillside, the plan calls for approximately 30 culverts. “We thought it was important for drainage to Lake Superior to keep the hydrology acting as much the same as possible,” he said.
Asked when the next section of the trail would be completed, Kevin Johnson of the DNR said there is no funding for the Lutsen to Cascade River segment at this time. The trail section through Lutsen proper is a challenge, Johnson said, with no funding available. The Gitchi Gami planners prefer to wait until MnDOT is ready for highway reconstruction. “If we do it now, MnDOT will come through later and we’ll have to change it,” said Johnson.
However, the section beyond Lutsen, which will connect with the finished Gitchi Gami Trail near Grand Marais, is now in the design phase. Johnson said there are numerous steps for each project—funding, engineering, delineating wetlands, developing storm water management permits and any other waters permits required, and right-of-way acquisition. Funding has been obtained for the Cascade River to Grand Marais section, but Johnson said engineering has been a challenge.
He said the original plan was for the trail to go up to County Road 7, with a separate bridge over Cutface Creek. But Johnson said the steep grade was not in compliance with the handicap accessible requirements for the trail and the alignment would have gone through an area with sensitive and rare plants, so the original plan was scrapped. The design now stays within the Highway 61 corridor. Engineering work is in process and Johnson said construction is expected to begin in 2010.
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