St. Peter-to-Mankato trail ‘will happen at some point’

By Mark Fischenich

ST PETER — It’s unanimous. All six local governments want to explore the construction of a new bike trail from Mankato to St. Peter.

“It will happen at some point,” said St. Peter City Councilman John Kvamme. “Trails have momentum in this country. Some take 20 years, but it will happen.”

Exactly where is still in doubt. That’s a big question for a $400,000 study the six local governments want the Minnesota Legislature to finance through the 2010 state bonding bill.

Studies done by student groups at Minnesota State University and Gustavus Adolphus College, along with suggestions by other organizations, have proposed a variety of routes on both sides of the Minnesota River.

Some favor connecting the trail to the Kasota Prairie nature area. Most want it to connect to Seven Mile Creek County Park midway between Mankato and St. Peter. Most envision the trail linking to the Mankato trail system at the Kiwanis Park on the city’s far north side, and to an existing St. Peter trail in Riverside Park on that city’s south end.

Because the route could end up on the east side of the river, the Le Sueur County Board joined the Nicollet and Blue Earth county boards and the city councils of Mankato, North Mankato and St. Peter in officially backing the request for the $400,000 in state funding. All six made the June 30 deadline for signaling their support, and Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, and Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato, are expected to push for the funding in the next legislative session.

Sheran is on the Senate committee that assembles that body’s bonding bill, winnowing a list of several billion dollars of requests for construction projects around the state into a final bill that typically reaches about $1 billion.

“Any influence she can take on behalf, we’d be appreciative,” said St. Peter Community Development Director Russ Wille.

The project’s prospects are improved by Sheran’s presence on a key committee and the existence starting this year of a new source of trail funding — the sales tax increase approved by voters to finance outdoors and arts projects, Wille said. The portion of the new fund dedicated to parks and trails is expected to total $5 million a year by 2011.

The proposed trail’s chances are also enhanced by a previous state law that established the Minnesota River Trail — a long-range plan to build a trail the length of the Minnesota River from Fort Snelling State Park at its mouth to Big Stone Lake Park near its source.

“The city is very excited,” St. Peter’s Wille said of the potential for the trail to become a reality. “This maybe is the perfect opportunity.”

Approval of the $400,000 would be just the start. That money would study the various route options, looking at the feasibility of construction, the impact on wetlands and endangered species and the projected construction costs.

The study will also face the task of identifying a route — including whether the town of Kasota and the Kasota Prairie on the east side of the river can be part of a route that also connects the three west-bank parks. One group’s suggestion was to use the abandoned railroad abutments just south of St. Peter to construct a new bridge across the river.

But even without the costs of a new bridge, the trail is expected to cost several million dollars to construct when right-of-way acquisition and wetland mitigation expenses are included.