News & Project Updates

There is a lot of construction in Maplewood and N. St. Paul that is near or involves the trail - Frost Ave, Manton Ave., and County Rd. B.  Any street intersection on the trail  between White Bear Ave. and McKnight (there are 2; 7^th Avenue and County Rd. B itself) is affected. Local traffic is re-routed here in multiple patterns, so these 2 street intersections now carry greatly increased traffic. Some of it is local, and folks know about the trail. But many cars are non-local, and have no idea the trail is there. Plus, there are cones and barriers that narrow those roads to one lane, so cars have to go one-by-one. In the last few weeks there have been many ‘near misses’ as cars crossing the trail don’t slow at all. Many folks are just trying to get out of the construction as quickly as possible, but many drivers do not seem to be heeding stops signs or speed limits! Trail users should take extra caution along the trail between White Bear Avenue and McKnight because of this.

MN Parks and Trails Council has issued their condition of the trails report for state bike trails for 2019 and it makes good reading. It  has some excellent recommendations for suggestions for maintaining the trail network .

The Gateway trail condition is rated excellent - good N of Hwy 36, and fair to poor S of Hwy 36 (where the age of the trail (>25 years) is more apparent). Brown's Creek is rated in excellent condition (however be careful of the very rough bump hazard about 3/8 mile N of Stillwater trailhead (July 3))

The full report is here:    2018-2019-State-of-the-Trails_Web.pdf

The new Hadley tunnel on the Gateway is taking shape ... it just needs a few thousand tons of dirt to cover it and a few other things like a trail to it etc etc

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Things are happening in North St Paul on the Gateway Trail.

The recent NSP Explorers Bike event at Rotary Park on Tuesday 25^th June was a very fun event. A group of about 60 adults and children participated. Gateway Cycle staff gave a bike safety presentation, and then took questions from the crowd. After that, everyone got out on the trail, and rode or walked to the North St. Paul Snowman to enjoy ice cream and learn more about the Snowman statue .

The new permanent restrooms at Rotary Park right alongside the Gateway Trail are now under construction. This will be a very nice addition to the existing facilities there ( bike maintenance stand, shelter, and picnic tables). Thank you to the Rotary Club of N St Paul and City of N St Paul. GBCTA also has made a $500 donation in support of this excellent project.

 

Washington County is  conducting some initial public engagement for revising the master plan for Pine Point Regional Park (290 acres at the current northern end of the Gateway Trail). They seek input from members of the public who use the park and the Gateway Trail. The purpose of the master plan is to set natural resource and recreational priorities for future park improvements.

They have a project webpage and online survey (3 minutes, confidential)

Thank you in advance for your assistance in working on improving Washington County Parks and the quality of life in the county.

Spokes & Folks: The Evolution of Bikes & Trails in Washington County exhibition has now opened at the Washington County Stillwater Historic Courthouse at 101 W Pine St Stillwater. It is open through Dec 2019.

Sections include: Wheels of Time, highlighting historic bikes; Pathway Pioneers highlighting local innovators of the turn of the century; Parks, Paths and People featuring biking trails in the county, Bikes and Bloomers section examining the role that bicycles played in changing social patterns for women; and the celebration of the new St. Croix Crossing bike and pedestrian bridge that opens summer 2019.

More details at: https://www.co.washington.mn.us/2453/Exhibits

With major flooding on the St. Croix River at Stillwater, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is halted work on the Lift Bridge. The bridge, which closed to vehicle traffic in August 2017, is being rehabbed as part of a bike-pedestrian trail on both sides of the river.

The trail, MnDOT officials said Thursday, will not open in June as planned.

“We’re looking at probably mid- to late September, but it could be even later,” said MnDOT spokesman Kent Barnard. “We won’t know for sure until we learn how long it takes for the flooding to recede and then if there is any damage.”

More at: https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/14/as-stillwater-prepares-for-river-flooding-pedestrian-bike-trail-delayed/

Latest update: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNDOT/bulletins/2402901

GBCTA will continue to post updates as they become available

In May 2019 the Rotary Club of N St Paul, Maplewood, Oakdale will be starting construction of permanent restrooms in Rotary Park, located in front of the windmill, in N St Paul, on the Gateway Trail.  They seek support for the project through donations of materials, labor and/or money.  These restrooms will serve thousands of Gateway Trail users annually.

Contact :  Joe Miller of  Rotary Club of N St Paul, Maplewood, Oakdale at (651) 492-1598 or jvmiller_@hotmail.com

More information about the Rotary Club of NStPaul

On 2/28/2019 Dennis Lindeke, Steve Wolgamot, and Mike Brooks meet with Senator Amy  Wazlawik as part of BikeMN Summit day at the Capitol.  Other BikeMN summit participants (120 or more) met with their Senators and Representatives for a well coordinated effort to support bike and ped in MN.

Support was requested for BikeMN 's statewide effort as follows

1) Funding of Active Transportation $30million

2) Funding for Safe Routes to School $10 million,

3) Hands Free Cell phone bill (Senate file 91 , House file 50),

4) Policy changes around use of road shoulders (3' passing law to apply for vehicles ;  to allow bike to ride through on right turn lanes (HF462 and SF1014),

5) Making walking and biking part of MN's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies

We also thanked our legislators for their continuing support of Lake Links Trail, and Gateway Brown's Creek trail in particular.

Please contact your Senator and Representative to express thanks and to ask for ongoing support on these key items.

The 10~ 18 month closure of a ~1 mile section of the Gateway just West of Hadley  parking in Oakdale and details of the detour have now been published. The Hadley parking lot will remain open with vehicle access via 55th street off Eastbound hwy 36 ONLY; exit from Hadley parking will be via 55th street onto Eastbound hwy 36 ONLY.  Bike/ped traffic will only be able to proceed NE on the Gateway trail from Hadley parking.  The date for start of the detour is currently set at April 8th .  Completion date depends on a number of factors and maybe as early as Dec 2019 or as late as summer 2020.

The detour has a variation in case of high water (~3" deep across the Heath Ave N spur trail on March 25th) . Detailed map is here:  Gateway Trail Hadley Detour Route Spring 2019 - Summer 2020.tif