"Minneapolis Parks & Regional Trails; A Nonmotorized Network"

1. Minneapolis Par ks &
Re gional Tr ails:
A nonmotorized networ k
Heritage Trail along Mississippi River

2. Regional Government for
the Twin Cities area
1967- Metropolitan Council, a regional governing body is instituted,
signed into law by Governor LeVander. Comprised of 17 members
(elected from16 districts + 1 at-large)
“This Council was created to do a job which has proved too big for
any single community,” LeVander

3. Metropolitan Council Regional
Government: Management of 4
systems
Responsible for the planning and development within a
7-county area with 188 cities & townships
+ 22 special purpose districts.
Responsible for 4 systems :
 Regional parks
 Aviation
 Transportation ( Transit-1994)
 Wastewater (1994)

4. Metropolitan Regional
Parks:
created by legislation
1974- Metropolitan Regional
Parks created by the
State legislature
2007- 53,000 acres
(King Co- 25,000 acres)
29 regional trails (177 miles)
49 parks & reserves
6 special recreation areas
1975- 5 million visits
2007- 33 million visits

5. Metropolitan Regional
Parks:
Operated by 10 implementing agencies
Metropolitan
Regional Parks
(1974)
Minneapolis Park & Three Rivers Park 6 counties
Recreation Board District 2 cities: St Paul &
(1883) (1957) Bloomington

6. City of Minneapolis
A Vision for Parks
 1856- City of Minneapolis incorporated
 1883- Board of Park Commissioners (BPC) established
by public vote, semi-autonomous 9-member body
 Horace Cleveland and Frederick Law Olmsted,
landscape architects, recommended that the park &
parkway system should capitalize on natural features.
 80 acres purchased by BPC.

7. Building on the Dream:
City of Minneapolis
 1969- Name change to Minneapolis Park & Recreation
Board (MPRB)
 1970’s- Standardized design elements identify & unify
Grand Rounds Parkway system.
 1980’s- Acquisition along Mississippi River is a priority
 MPRB owns land in Minneapolis + 5 other cities

8. Minneapolis Park system:
popular and growing
 Minneapolis Population
(2008): approx 400,000
 Visits per year (2007)
14 million to City’s
regional parks
5.5 million to Chain of Lakes
 Park features include
bike/pedestrian paths:
Grand Rounds -43 miles
Chain of Lakes- 13.3
miles
 In 2000- Park system
awarded highest rating by
the Trust for Public Land

9. Beginning of Regional Park
Planning: Three Rivers Park
District
 1957-Three Rivers Park District is established by the
Minnesota State Legislature to serve suburban areas
of the Twin cities
 7-member board: 5 elected + 2 appointed

10. Three Rivers Park District:
Property Acquisition in 5 counties
1957-1977: 21,000 acres purchased, primarily farmland
1967- 80% of park reserves to remain in natural state;
20% for active use
1998- Regional trail corridors are identified within system
plan

11. Three Rivers Park District
Current facilities (2007) located in counties of:
Hennepin, Carver, Dakota, Scott, and Ramsey
 26,000 acres of parkland
 9 regional parks
 7 park reserves
 12 regional trails
(1- 20+ miles in length)
 6 million visitors/year
 19.3% increase in trail use
from 1998-2007
 Redevelopment occurring
near parks and trails

12. Planning for the Future:
Accommodating Changing Needs
1950s & 1960s 2000-2009
 Stable, homogenous  Diverse population, more
population foreign born
 More families with children  More single person
 Traditional recreational needs households
 One size fits all  New recreational needs
 Greater age span of users

13. Motivation for Using Trails
Trail experience is the attraction: “The richer the
experience, the more visitors will work to
preserve it…”
↑
Trail experience + destination are the attractions
↓
Destination is the attraction: “Length and
directness of the route and tread quality are
primary visitor motivations for using the trail.”
Trail Planning, Design, and Development Guidelines, Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources,
2006

14. Regional Trails: definition &
length
 “Regional trails serve a regional population
within the Twin cities metropolitan area and
multiple cities and/or counties in greater
Minnesota. Travel time to a trailhead is
typically up to 30 minutes or more.
 For nonmotorized uses, the trail must be
long enough for at least an hour of visitor
experience, which translates into at least 5
miles for walking and 20 miles for bicycling.

15.  Significant emphasis is placed on the
recreational value and setting of the trail.
Trail corridors exhibiting scenic qualities
with numerous natural resource attributes
are the highest priorities.”
 Trail Planning, Design, and Development Guidelines,
Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources, 2006

16. Multimodal Trail design
 Combined use trails
are 12 feet wide

17. Multimodal Trail design:
width of separated paths
bikes path 10ft + walking path 8ft
Lake Calhoun Heritage Trail
Lake Nokomis

18. Accommodating Multi-modal
use: Auto, Bike & Bus Lanes
Hennepin Avenue

19. Promoting Regional
Mobility:
Light rail and bicycling
 Accommodating
bicycles on light rail

20. Shared ROW corridors:
Multi-use trail adjacent to
Hiawatha light rail

21. Trail Signage & Wayfinding

22. Resources for the Public
 Maps- with distances

23. Resources for the Public:
Regional Maps

24. Renaissance of Bicycling
"When residents and historians look back at this period in
the Twin Cities, they will clearly identify it as the great
era of bicycle trail construction.
We are in the midst of creating an essential new element
in the transportation and recreation systems of the 21st
century.
Bicycles may have been invented in the 19th century, but
they are becoming even more important in the 21st."
Hennepin County Commissioner Peter
McLaughlin
At October 31, 2001 Invitation Letter to
Bicycle Gaps Meeting

25. Dreaming for the future:
2030
2007- 2.85 million people in 6-county area
2030- 3.6 million projected (26.3% increase)
 Metropolitan Council 2030 Regional Parks Policy Plan
proposes:
 Acquire another 17,000 acres parkland +
700 miles of regional trails

26. Regional Planning for
Growth
Every 4 years- a Regional Recreation Open Space Policy Plan
is prepared by the Metro Parks & Open Space
Commission (advisory board to metro council)
Key aspects:
3. Identify where new regional parks and trails should be
located to meet future growth
4. Integrate parks system with housing, transportation and
other regional priorities

27. Involving the Community
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board sought
input for the 2007-2020 Comprehensive Plan
(approved 10/17/07)
 7 Town Meetings
 20 Focus groups
 27 Appointed
community leaders
 Phone survey

28. Closing the Gaps in the
Trail System
 October 2, 2001, the Hennepin County Board
of Commissioners initiated the study of gaps in
the bicycle transportation system.
 The bicycle transportation system as a whole is
composed of the regional county, regional park
(Three Rivers Park District), and individual city
bicycle systems.
http://wwwa.co.hennepin.mn.us

29. http://wwwa.co.hennepin.mn.us

30. Metropolitan Regional Parks:
2008-2013 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
12/12/07- Metropolitan Council adopted the
2008-2013 Capital Improvement Program
Biannual budget of $17.5 million
 40% Metro Council Funds- $7 million
 60% State funds- $10.5 million
Metro Council funds:
 33% from 10 yr bonds + 66% from 5yr bonds

31. http://www.metrocouncil.org/parks/CIP.pdf

32. Capital Funds Allocated to
10 Regional Parks agencies by:
Population & Non-local use
Formula for allocating $17.5 million in CIP funding:
70% weighting of population percent + 30% weighting of
non-local visits percent
Example: City of St Paul
10.2% regional population x .70 = 7.159%
24.8% non-local visits x .30 = 7.435%
City of St Paul is allocated for 2008-2009
14.594% of $17.5 million= $2.554 million

33. Metropolitan Regional
Parks:
pooling resources to grow
Metropolitan Council receives
and dispenses state funds to
Regional Parks for acquisition
and development of the parks
1974 to 2007
authorized $458 million in funds
for park system.
Operating expenses (received
from state lottery):
In 2007- Metropolitan Council
allocated $8.62 million to
Regional Parks, (10.1% of
annual operating expenses).

34. Funding the growth for
Regional Parks:
Nonprofit foundation
Funding strategy:
 Minnesota Legislature authorized Metropolitan Council
to form a nonprofit foundation
 Funds to assist in acquiring regional park land and
trails
 Nonprofit to be modeled on efforts in other large U.S.
metro areas

35. A Vision for the Future
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board outlined 3
Vision Themes for the goals and strategies of
the 2007-2020 Comprehensive Plan:
 “Urban forests, natural areas, and waters that endure and
captivate.”
 “Recreation that inspires personal growth, healthy
lifestyles, and a sense of community.”
 “Dynamic parks that shape city character and meet
diverse community needs.”

36. Funding for Minneapolis
Park & Recreation Board
Park Board has authority to levy
taxes to fund operating
expenses:
 92%-from property tax
& local government aid
 3%-from state grants
 5%-from revenues & transfers
 Annual cost to Minneapolis
homeowner for Park Board:
 $217 or 7.7% of property tax
on $116,000 home

37. Funding for Minneapolis
Park & Recreation Board
2007
Revenues $13.04 million
Expenses-$13.02 million
Assets- $276.9 million (in 2007)

38. Minneapolis Park &
Recreation Board: Future
projects
 Complete 3-mile missing link in Grand Rounds
 Add bikeway, parkland, & pedestrian path
 Cost: approx $100 million
 Expand trails along Mississippi River
 Construct bike lanes to complete
urban network

39. Completing the Grand
Rounds:
A National Scenic Byway
 Missing Link Study Phase began June 2007
 Citizen Advisory Committee formed
 Community input (3 public meetings)
Study evaluated:
 Proposed routes & designs
 Neighborhood impact
 Connectivity to existing &
proposed bike/ped routes
 Park and Open Spaces
 Transportation Corridors

40. Contact Info
 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
2117 West River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55411
(612) 230-6400
Jennifer Ringold, Citywide planner
http://www.minneapolisparks.org
 Three Rivers Park District
3000 Xenium Lane North
Plymouth, MN 55441-1299
763/559-9000
Jonathon Vlaming, Senior Manager of Planning
http://www.threeriversparkdistrict.org

41. Further information
 Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board> Design and
Planning> lists various projects
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/home.asp
 Above the Falls-Phase I (Completing the Grand Rounds)
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=935
 Metropolitan Regional Parks
http://www.metrocouncil.org/parks/parks.htm
 Metropolitan Council: www.metrocouncil.org