Minnesota River Valley State Trail

The MVST corridor through Bloomington will consist of a 10-foot wide paved trail with 2 foot vegetated shoulders.   This is the standard design for multi-use trails and allows room for users to safely pass each other.  In addition, the trail is aligned to provide sufficient sightlines so users can see others coming and to avoid “blind” corners.

The MVST will be designed to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); making the Minnesota River Valley more accessible to a broad spectrum of users and abilities.  This is consistent with the State’s mission to provide accessible outdoor recreation opportunities and the City’s desire to enhance access to one of the most unique amenities in Bloomington. 

The existing natural surface trail will remain in its current location to the extent possible.  As space allows, the two trails will be located as far apart as possible to create two unique user experiences. However, there are segments where the trails must converge to cross streams or to minimize environmental impacts. In those locations, users will share the paved trail.

Several engineering techniques will be implemented to minimize flood damage:

1. the trail is aligned parallel to the river flow to the degree possible to minimize potential for undermining by cross current flows;
2. reinforced shoulders will be used to strengthen the trail edges;
3. the trail is located on the highest ground feasibly available; and
4. culverts will be installed over water crossings and low areas. 

Paved trails in floodplains are not unique and the DNR has experience building and maintaining such trails.  Near-by examples include the trails in Fort Snelling State Park (State/DNR), the Big Rivers Regional Trail (Dakota County/St Paul), and trails in Crosby Farm Park (St Paul).

Like many State Trail projects, the Bloomington segment of the MVST will be built in phases.  The DNR, in consultation with the City and the USFWS (the primary landowners in the corridor) prepared preliminary trail engineering plans for the entire 13-mile Bloomington segment.  More detailed plans have been completed for the approximate 3-mile segment extending between Lyndale Avenue (near the Sorenson boat launch) and the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge trailhead.  These segments (referred to as Phase 1A and 1B) were selected as the first phase to take advantage of the recent Old Cedar Avenue Bridge rehabilitation and reconstruction of the I-35W bridge across the Minnesota River, which will include bicycle/pedestrian facilities.  Once completed, Phase 1A and 1B, together with the river crossings (I-35W and TH 77) will connect to an existing paved trail in Burnsville, forming a nearly 8-mile trail loop along the Minnesota River and provide access to the expanding Dakota County trail system.

Funding is currently available to complete segment 1B.  Partial funding has been secured for segment 2.  Once funding is secured, construction on segment 2 will commence. The DNR has no estimated schedule for completion of the entire MVST through Bloomington.  However, future segments will be identified to maximize accessibility and create opportunities to create loops and/or logical end points.

The MVST project requires both state and federal environmental review.  The environmental analysis process to prepare these environmental assessments will be conducted in accordance with applicable state and federal requiremements in the laws noted below (MEPA, NEPA).

• Federal: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) – this requires completion of a federal Environmental Assessment (EA) for lands in the trail corridor owned by the federal government (e.g., USFWS – Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge).  The federal EA process began in 2018, but generally takes much longer than the State EAW review process.  Completion of the federal EA review is anticipated in late 2020.

• State:  Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) – this requires completion of a state Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for trail projects over 10 miles in length.  The State EAW was completed in 2018.  The required 30-day public comment period occurred in Oct/Nov.  The “record of decision”, issued in December 2018, determined that the MVST project does not have potential for significant environmental effects that would require additional review through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  This allows the permitting process to proceed on city-owned land. More information on the State of Minnesota EAW can be found here: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/mnvalley/index.html

Both laws require the proposer (DNR) to describe the project, its magnitude and potential environmental impacts on: sensitive ecological resources; water resources/wetlands; rare/threatened/endangered species; land use; cultural resources, and cumulative impacts.

Cultural and natural resource investigations, including a wetland delineation and archeological review, have been completed for the entire 13-mile trail corridor.  As required by state law, the trail alignment must avoid or minimize wetland impacts.  Likewise, the trail alignment will minimize impacts on mature trees, particularly hardwoods and cottonwoods.  The MVST is also subject to the State’s stream buffer/setback requirements.

Required formal environmental review is not, in itself, intended to determine whether a project will move forward.  Rather, it identifies potential project impacts on environmental resources, describes measures to mitigate negative impacts, provides information regarding permitting requirements, and serves to inform the public about the project.

The MVST was authorized in 1969 by the State Legislature to establish a continuous 72-mile trail corridor along the Minnesota River from Fort Snelling State Park to the city of Le Sueur. While much of the trail upstream (i.e., southwest) of Bloomington is in place, the segment from Bloomington Ferry Bridge to Fort Snelling is not in place. This is the portion of the trail that passes through Bloomington.