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Let's not just throw around the wording: "we actually have folks who are so
green that they are so upset about widening a bike path". This has been an
ongoing struggle between the Park Board and the Watershed District for
quite sometime and really isn't about being green as it is how to make the
paths safest for all the park users while protecting the water and shores
of the creek. The watershed District's purpose and focus is to protect the
water, the park board's is to protect the parks and water plus meet the
needs of the park users. The width of the paths is for two purposes:
allowing a little more space between bicyclists, in line skaters, baby
strollers and walkers. It also is to increase accessibility for our
maintenance crews to keep the paths clean and clear especially during winter.
The Park Board response to the Pam Blixt question includes the following
comments. We will be making testimony at the upcoming May 14th meeting. I
doubt if Pam Blixt appreciates your slam of her concerns about widening the
bike path. They are problematic but appreciated - she is doing her job she
believes. For me it is about a balance because we must take care of both
the people and the environment within the park system. It is complex to
meet that balance.
Several important points on these concerns:
1) the runoff from the increased path width will have minimal if any impact
on water quality or quantity - this is unconnected impervious surface,
which means it does not drain to storm sewers but rather to green space and
buffer areas.
2) the use of the trail system is pedestrian and bicycle traffic, not
automobiles so the pollution found in the runoff from these sites is not
laden with oils, metals and other nastsies as is street runoff
3) the Minnehaha Creek watershed is 186 square miles (or about 120,000
acres) in size with nearly 30% of the watershed being hard surfaces =
36,000 acres providing polluted runoff; the trail project is responsible
for the addition of a bout one acre of new hard surface eroded dirt paths
contribute large quanities of sediment and phosphorus to the watershed -
people have and will continue to use this corridor for recreation - with or
without paved paths so the question of balancing the appropriate treatments
leans toward paved paths
4) the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has approved many permits that
have increased hard surface in the watershed - including streets, parking
lots, commercial developments that have gtreatly increased runoff and
pollution loads to the creek
5) this project includes stream side buffer creation, streambank erosion
repair, buckthorn removal and native vegetation reestablishment
The environmental impacts, especially over the long term require the
balancing of the mutliple impacts and this involves more than just water,
which seems to be the narrow focus of the watershed district
Annie Young
www.annieyoung.org (new info as of 5/7/01)
Ward 6 - East Phillips in Minneapolis
Citywide at-large Park Board Commissioner
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