Any city these days without a hiking-biking trail should blush from embarrassment. Such trails have become an integral part of life in progressive cities. That is why we should be happy the Lake Wobegon Trail, at long last, will likely be extended as early as next fall.
The latest move forward happened last week when the Stearns County Board of Commissioners agreed to pony up $200,000 for the extension. The three cities involved with trail-extension efforts have also committed to $200,000 each. Local funds, along with a bundle of state funds, will make the extension possible at a cost close to $5 million.
The trail would be extended from its current eastern end in St. Joseph easterly across the Sauk River, into Waite Park and then to St. Cloud. It will eventually connect to the Beaver Island Trail System along the Mississippi River in downtown St. Cloud.
The Wobegon Trail, which opened in September 1998, is a 46-mile bituminous trail, 10-feet wide, that extends from Sauk Centre to St. Joseph. It also connects to another trail system that goes as far west as Osakis. A northern extension of the trail in Avon goes north to the Holdingford area. The trail was built on an abandoned rail corridor bed owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway. The extension would also be constructed on that corridor.
Getting the current trail from dream to reality took a long time, with complex negotiations and commitments from cities, the county, townships, parks departments, and state and federal agencies.
So many people worked hard for years to see that trail constructed. It was worth all the effort. Since the very day of its opening, the Wobegon Trail has attracted walkers, bikers and in-line skaters from a wide area for individual, family and group recreation. Scores of events, many of them fundraisers, take place on the trail every year in the warmer months.
All area cities in the greater St. Cloud area have hiking-biking trails. They have become such an expected amenity that many cities, such as Sartell, automatically include the need for them in just about every development-planning process for neighborhoods, parks and urban areas. They are ideal for safe recreation and healthy exercise along green spaces and pedestrian/biker-friendly bustling urban spots. They are also, incidentally, a boost to businesses along or near the trails.
According to one study, there are 150 extended trail systems in the United States, similar to the Wobegon Trail, and they’ve proven to be very safe and heavily used. It’s so good to know that green spaces, waterways and trails are high on the priority lists of so many cities and people, including right here in Central Minnesota. It will be a pleasure to walk, bike or skate on that eastern Wobegon extension when it is – hopefully – soon constructed.
