Scandia moving ahead on Gateway Trail extension over objections

The Scandia City Council is moving forward with plans for an extension of the Gateway Trail in the city despite several opposition The council voted - last week to go out for bids for a trailhead on city-owned land near Meister s Bar Grill along with a tunnel under Oakhill Road Washington County Road and a one-mile trail connecting the two Council member Jerry Cusick voted against the measure Kirsten Libby was not in attendance Bids are due on Nov and the Scandia City Council will decide Dec whether to accept and award the bid for the project explained City Administrator Kyle Morell The estimated cost million Construction could start in May and should be complete by the end of he commented The tunnel under Oakhill which has an estimated price tag of million has been controversial Administrators from the Minnesota Department of Natural Tools the agency that will own operate and maintain the trail say it is a necessary safety measure Opponents say the tunnel is poorly planned and unnecessary The Gateway Trail is one of the state s majority of heavily used trails attracting an estimated users in It at present runs miles from St Paul to Pine Point Park in Stillwater Township Plans call for a four-mile extension of the Gateway Trail from William O Brien State Park to downtown Scandia The council will hold a constituents listening session in early December to give residents opportunity to be heard but the council won t take any action at that time Morell reported Bids will be presented to council at either the populace listening meeting or at the Dec council meeting Morell stated The final vote on whether to accept and award the bid for the Gateway Trail Project will be at the Dec council meeting he commented Funding deadline Scandia Mayor Steve Kronmiller John Autey Pioneer Press The city got a million grant from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Guidance to extend the trail from the trailhead behind Meister s Bar Grill to Oakhill Road The money also will cover a realignment of feet of Oakhill Road and the raising of the road by feet to accommodate the tunnel Funding for the trail extension must be expended by June reported Mayor Steve Kronmiller Terms and conditions of the grant appropriation specifically mention the tunnel We do understand that if we were to vote to reconsider an alternate location or something of that sort there is a distinct possibility that we wouldn t be able to meet that deadline and therefore we would lose the funding so that s a concern of staff Kronmiller mentioned If the city had to go back and re-request funds in a different way it would have to pay a percent matching contribution he commented That matching contribution doesn t exist in the grant that we have now he commented It s percent funded County contribution Washington County is contributing for work related to the tunnel and the realignment of Oakhill county functionaries will not allow the trail to cross Oakhill a county highway at grade County Engineer Wayne Sandberg noted To advocacy a grade separation county bureaucrats agreed to contribute financially toward a tunnel option he explained At the end of the day the council has to make a decision one way or the other and not everybody is going to be happy with that final decision Kronmiller commented But I hope people understand we are putting in a lot of hard work to understand all of the issues and make the best decision for the neighborhood that we can Related Articles As Stillwater wrestles with cannabis shop locations what are other east metro cities seeing Afton William O Brien state parks to close for weekend deer hunts Voters to decide school levy referendums in Ramsey Dakota Washington counties Forest Lake School Board to hold special meeting on board vacancy Investigators drop M fine against Wells Fargo exec of Lake Elmo In the meantime functionaries also are working on a plan to finish the connection between downtown Scandia and William O Brien State Park Kronmiller disclosed Design and specifications for that portion of the trail should be completed sometime next summer he revealed We still have to acquire the funding but I definitely see the connection all the way from William O Brien to downtown Scandia happening Kronmiller disclosed And when that happens I expect to see a lot of visitors coming into the town and improving Scandia as a destination for tourism