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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PARK COMMISSION <br /> Monday, February 1, 2021 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 4 of 13 <br /> <br />and on the new trail. They end up with these small neighborhood loops which Three Rivers thinks would <br />be a real benefit for the community as they are looking to get a small bit of exercise or access the regional <br />trail there. The recommendation is shown on screen. <br />Carter asked if they can trace the route from south to north on the map and in rough segments explain <br />briefly that it is a new off-road trail, or an on-road trail, or a trail that is there and will be re-used, paved, <br />or unpaved. It is so segmented it would be nice to get that big picture. <br />Mr. Crosby noted if they start down in Wayzata, this is Berry Avenue and is most likely (although they <br />have not confirmed yet with Wayzata) going to be an off-road trail that would be sort of a blended facility <br />looking at utilizing sidewalk and trail behind the curb. As they head up to Wayzata Boulevard, likely on <br />the middle school side of the road, it would be an off-road trail there and heading up Ferndale Road, again <br />an off-road trail with the exception of the bridge that they recognize is not set right now for a 10 foot wide <br />pedestrian trail to go across that. There are existing sidewalks and the way the Masterplan would be <br />written in this area is that they would work with MNDOT to make sure that bridge is either improved or <br />replaced, make sure there is a facility wide enough to accommodate the trail which is at least a 10 foot <br />wide trail on one side or the other. In the meantime, they would need to use the existing sidewalks or <br />possibly look at whether that bridge deck could be modified to get a wider pedestrian facility in there and <br />maybe narrower road lanes for cars. In any event they would be looking at off-road trail up Ferndale and <br />utilize the Luce Line trail in its current condition. The long term vision would be to potentially get that <br />paved, but as Mr. Shurson mentioned, they did hear in public comments that people like that gravel trail, <br />and the DNR also told Three Rivers at this point they do not have any plans to pave that. It is likely that <br />section of the trail would stay in its current condition as gravel. When they get to Old Long Lake Road, <br />they propose an off-road trail that would be within the road right-of-way but would be separated from the <br />road until it gets up to East Long Lake. He showed some pictures on screen, which as the Commissioners <br />know, is a very tight, 30 foot right-of-way that goes from Old Long Lake Road down to the park on East <br />Long Lake Road. Three Rivers sees this as one of the major pinch points in this area and ideally they <br />would be able to purchase some additional property or right-of-way to put a trail adjacent to the roadway. <br />It is possible in the interim it may have to be an on road facility striped with “sharrows” or “shared <br />roadway” in that context. Going back to the map, Mr. Crosby noted they are all familiar with the new <br />trail that goes along the east side of Long Lake – that would be an independent trail – and then along <br />Spring Hill Road, it would also be an independent trail separated from the road either by a curb or most <br />likely a little bit of a shoulder until it gets up to the County Road 6 crossing. <br />Carter noted everything is paved other than the possibility of leaving Luce Line unpaved. <br />Mr. Crosby said that is correct. <br />Roath asked Edwards if there was a discussion about a possibility of going on the west side of Wood-Rill <br />boundary north and then connecting to the East Long Lake Trail in that southeast part of the lake. <br />Edwards replied early on, they had talked about trying to explore the parcel at the corner, 900 Old Long <br />Lake Road that reverted to the DNR, and there was an existing driveway and a trail system through there. <br />He does not think that is feasible from his recent discussions from the DNR of allowing a bicycle trail <br />through that piece of land, unless Three Rivers has some other information. He noted he spoke with the <br />DNR about three weeks ago and they said no, they would not even entertain it.