News of the Trails...

1-12-10: Mountain Bike Trail Update | Submitted by Roger Healy (Cuyuna Lakes Chamber Rep for the Advisory Committee).

Ron Kuschel from DNR told us that the DNR received a letter from Jeff Schoenbauer, the project design consultant on Dec 29th.  MNDOT received final approval on the project design and are prepared to begin the bidding phase of the project. 

January - Bid packages including plans and specifications are being put together.
February – Advertised bid period including mandatory meeting for all bidders.
March – Contractor selection and bonding process.
May – Even if there are delays in the steps mentioned above it appears everything is in place to have construction start.

Note – Contracts generally allows contractor a “completion window” (for example May 1 through Oct 31).  The winning bidder may have another job that keeps them from starting right at the beginning of the window, but they still need to be done by the completion date. 

The actual construction period is not know at this time.

The DNR has met with IMBA twice recently about the CCSRA Mountain Bike Trails.  IMBA will be working closely with the DNR throughout the project in a consulting role.

Ron Kuschel was very optimistic about this timetable (he has be very cautious in the past). 

John Schaubach also commented that everyone he spoke with feels this is a reasonable timetable. 

From the Crosby-Ironton Courier May 13, 2009
The Cuyuna City Council heard an update from Cuyuna Lakes Trail Association representatives John Schaubach and Jennifer Smith at the council meeting on May 7, 2009.  

Schaubach said the group’s goal was to unite the Cuyuna Range cities in order to have a sense of purpose and to bring some tourism dollars into the eastern side of the county. The Cuyuna Lakes Trail Association sought state trail designation, which would provide state maintenance (unlike grant-in-aid trails, which do not have that maintenance). 

Over the summer the Trail Association will be adding paved trail from the Croft Mine Historical Park to the Hallett Community Center, then near the elementary school and up to the new Heartwood Senior Living Community. The group’s future intent is to go to Deerwood with paved trail and eventually connect to a trail being worked on in Aitkin.  The paved trail could also be brought to Cuyuna if the city was interested.  

Schaubach told the council about the International Mountain Bike Association constructing 25 miles of trails in the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area over this summer. The trail here is the first of five to be constructed in the United States, which will bring many tourists to the area to utilize the new trail.  He explained that they wanted to come to a former mining area since the “mineland is perfect because it was left as it was.”  

Smith said, “We are looking at bringing in extreme riders but it will be open to all riders—beginners and intermediate and also family activities.” The mountain bike trails are being engineered so that they won’t contribute to erosion, won’t erode, and are easy to maintain.  

In response to a question from City Clerk Bill Bedard about how to plan for the best trails, Schaubach said, “We are ‘pro-trails’ for all uses but you need to build them right and in the right place. You have to build so that all entities can benefit and grow their sport. There is space for each entity with 5,000 acres close to our towns; it can be done.”  

Schaubach further added that a visioning process would be beneficial to design all the trails from a central point of view for the whole area. “It can be planned out and designed and get all the property experts to weigh in and provide information so that two users aren’t fighting or they don’t ruin the experience for the other.”