County Requests $3M for Mississippi River Trail Expansion

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Dakota County has applied for $3 million from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to help pay for eight miles of the the Mississippi River Regional Trail.

The paved trail is planned to run through Spring Lake Park Reserve in and Nininger Township; the money also would help pay for three trailheads.

DEED released in July that the county was seeking money for park trails and visitors centers. 

The project has stiff competition for the bonding money, though, as 90 projects with a combined cost of $288.4 million are seeking a portion of DEED’s $47.5 million payout.

DEED is expected to announce what projects get the money next month, a spokesperson told Finance & Commerce.

Kurt Chatfield, Dakota County’s planning supervisor, said Dakota County’s project has as good of a chance as any of the other projects to get bond money.

“I think the Mississippi trail will be a fantastic amenity for the residents of Dakota County, and I think it is a great project,” he said. “It will add to the recreational opportunities available to residents, and it will spur some economic development.”

Federal Money Awarded

The county already has received $2.921 million in federal transportation funding to help pay for the Spring Lake Park Reserve trail segment, Chatfield said. That funding requires a local match, so Dakota County would pay for the remaining cost of the project if state bonding money does not come through.

“We’ll look for other sources, like grants, or it will come from somewhere in the county’s budget,” he said.

To reduce the cost to the county, the three trailheads could be taken out of the project, Chatfield said.

Construction of the eight-mile trail section could begin in 2014 and be finished by the following year.

Work Continues on More Trails

When construction of the Spring Lake Park segment and other unfinished sections of the trail is finished, 27 continuous miles of the regional trail will run through Dakota County.

Two segments of the paved trail currently are open in the public:

• A northern section that runs from Kaposia Landing Park in South St. Paul, goes south along Concord and ends up at Highway 52 in Inver Grove Heights.

• A southern section that runs from Spring Lake Park Reserve in Nininger Township to Hastings.

Other sections of the Dakota County portion of the trail either are under construction or are in the planning stages, according to the Minnesota Bike Trail Navigator website. They include:

• The 1.5-mile Central segment in Inver Grove Heights, which is expected to be completed this summer.

• The Pine Bend Bluff section from southern Inver Grove Heights to the Rosemount border. Construction could start this fall and wrap up next summer.

Rosemount city that construction on a 3.8-mile trail segment between 117th Street East in Rosemount to Spring Lake Park Reserve would begin this fall. The section would open to the public in 2013.