Just in case anyone is interested, here is some information that I got from Hennepin Parks today: --- The Midtown Greenway Trail extension to the west, may, if all goes very favorable, be open yet this fall. Glitches may cause it to open sometime next year. This opening will connect the Greenway with an existing trail in the Hopkins area, and thus opening the trail all the way to Carver Park. --- The Cedar Lake Trail extension west from Hwy-100 has the same story as the Greenway: maybe open this fall,but probably sometime next year, and also connecting to an existing trail in the Hopkins area. --- The Luce Line Trail extension eastward across Golden Valley and up to Wirth Parkway between Hwy-55 and Plymouth Ave. will probably open in 2002 or 2003. This trail will eventually connect into downtown Minneapolis. Previously I had been informed that Minneapolis Parks will oversee the planning and construction of the Luce Line Trail extension from Wirth Parkway to the connection with the Cedar Lake Trail near the Parade area. This section of the trail is referred to as the Bassett Creek Trail, and will probably be built in three different sections - due to different funding sources and due to timing and to glitches that need to be ironed out or waited for. Just one passing thought on the Cedar Lake Trail connection to the Mississippi River: --- The trail is planned to ramp from the south up to Washington Avenue on the east side of the RR tracks - then turn west and go across the east side of the Washington Ave bridge - then turn south down a ramp that hair-pins back to the north - the trail will then proceed north to the river along the west side of the tracks. --- I was thinking that a stand-alone bike bridge crossing from the east side of the RR tracks to the west side, just south of Washington Ave. would be easier for bikers. I am guessing that this idea would be no more expensive than the planned gyrations - anyone have any idea what a ballpark cost difference would be? Dave Stack Harrison Neighborhood (where crayfish can occasionally be seen in Bassett Creek)
