On the trailUse increases as New Ulm's bike trail nears completion

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- Although he had to ride cautiously, cycling enthusiast Bob Beck enjoyed his initial bicycle ride on New Ulm's new bike trail.

The trail, which has been paved for several days, is not yet completed. Signs will go up in the next two weeks directing trail users where the trail jogs to and when to slow down and stop for traffic. The city will also be striping where the path crosses the streets. There are also recovery areas on either side of the trail that will get topsoil and be seeded.

Because the trail needs the signs to be officially open, City Engineer Steve Koehler would like to stress trail users to be careful. The trail crosses several streets through the middle of town, but neither the trail users nor vehicle drivers have signs to warn them of the intersection as of yet.

"We just need people to be a little cautious because nothing is signed or marked," he said. "I don't blame them for being out there. This is prime biking weather."

The route

The trail begins on North Broadway at the KC Road and traverses through meadowland and bean fields, behind Mueller Park and German Park where there is parking, and parallels the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad tracks through wooded areas to 20th South Street, a five-mile hike.

An educated opinion

Friday, Beck took his first ride on the new, five-foot-wide paved trail that traverses New Ulm five miles from one end at the KC Road to the other at 20th South Street. The trail runs between German Street and Valley Street much of the way through town.

"I was pleasantly surprised," Beck said. "First of all, it is fairly long, and it is wide too. It will accommodate a lot of people."

Beck did notice that there was a lot of work yet to be done. Because the signs and markings are not up yet, he said he had encountered one car that had taken a wrong turn onto the trail.

Beck is an avid cyclist, biking about 3,200 miles every cycling season from late March to September. That averages out to 150-200 miles a week. But Beck normally rides on paved county highways, which allow for higher speeds, instead of bike trails.

He has also seen a lot of trails through his work as an interpretive naturalist at the Minnesota State Parks Regional Headquarters.

"It is really good for the city of New Ulm to have something like this," Beck said. "It's an opportunity for people to get out and ride in an area where they don't have to worry much about vehicles."

Beck was quick to point out that riding on streets is not dangerous as long as riders exercise due care.

Aside from preferring county highways to trails, Beck has some reservations about trails -- or at least the plan that emerged for the one in New Ulm.

Beck sat in on the original subcommittee that met through the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce in 1998 that was first looking at making a bike route on existing roads in the city. He left the group when they went the direction of a bike trail.

"I really sort of have a divided opinion of [bike trails]," Beck said. "They are really great for the community, but they can be really expensive.

"As a taxpayer and a bicyclist, I didn't see the need for expensive trails when we already have plenty of pavement to ride on," he said. "I'm not opposed to bike trails [in general]."

The group went on to plan a trail that connected Fort Ridgely, Flandrau and Minneopa State Parks, as well as a loop that encircled the city. But when they got started, the DNR expressed hesitation about the alignment through Flandrau, and the existing trail section was completed.

"They figured the elephant was too big to eat," Koehler said.

Although the portion of the trail that was expected to go through Flandrau is on hold, Koehler said that it is quite possible that when construction begins on the Highland Avenue Extension, that portion of the trail will be built simultaneously for the sake of convenience.

Funding

The approximately $700,000 trail was funded in several ways. The city got $425,000 in federal funding from gas tax flowback to the state that was distributed through the Area Transportation Partnership in Mankato. The DNR Trails Grant would contribute $102,000, and the remainder, approximately $178,000 comes from the taxpayers through money the city already had from bond funding.

Part of the agreement to get federal funding was that the city would agree to maintain the trail for 20 years. After that, Koehler is unsure of what will happen.

It is even unsure which city department will take care of the trail maintenance and cleanup once the trail is completed. The funds for continuing care will come from the chosen department's budget.

Community Involvement

The uncertainty of the extent of the city's maintenance and cleanup of the trail may leave opportunity for a community group or groups to become involved in picking up garbage or seeding wildflowers in open areas.

Since the city has no amenities built into the plan, some spare garbage cans may be set out along the trail, but community members may find it desirable to have garbage and recycling receptacles or benches installed as well.

"It's kind of a bare bones project," Koehler said. "If the community wants to get involved, that's great."