Forest Lake council pauses portion of North Shore reconstruction to study trail options

Forest Lake City Council members on Monday directed staff to remove the one-mile segment of North Shore Trail between Greenway Avenue and 230th Avenue from the current reconstruction project scope and return with further analysis on trail alternatives and property impacts. Council left the remainder of the project, from 230th Avenue to Highway 97, in the design and bid schedule while asking staff for additional detail on cost, right-of-way needs and safety trade-offs.

The item followed a Feb. 18 open house that drew about 66 sign-ins and “a lot of feedback,” staff said, and more than an hour of council discussion weighing long-term trail goals against near-term maintenance needs and limited capital dollars. Ryan, a city staff presenter, summarized the current capital improvement plan scope for North Shore Trail, noting an estimated total project cost of $5.8 million (the CIP lists $5.9 million) and a separate local 2025 street maintenance package budgeted at $1,845,000 and currently estimated at $1,650,000.

“The question is do you want something to go for 10, 7, 3? You know, now sometimes they go a little further than what paper says,” Ryan said while outlining three lower-cost maintenance alternatives (mill-and-overlay, ultra-thin bonded overlay, microsurfacing) and their expected service lives. He told the council that the full pavement replacement originally proposed is intended to be a 20- to 30-year solution and that adopting the original scope would likely preclude a trail in that corridor for decades: “If you go with the scope as presented, we do not intend to come back there for 20 years, 25 or 30, right, because you're making a significant investment there.”

Council members said they wanted more time to evaluate options that could deliver a trail while minimizing land acquisition and long-term maintenance burdens. Council member Miller and others favored pausing the Greenway–230th segment to pursue property research, potential grant funding and alternative alignments that might avoid wetlands and heavy right-of-way takings. Several council members also noted competing capital priorities: the city’s local share of larger cooperative projects with Washington County and MnDOT (including Highway 97) is expected to absorb much of the city’s state-aid construction funds for the next several years, they said.

Staff provided specific cost figures for a reconstructed roadway with a 10-foot off-street trail: a 32-foot face-to-face cross section was estimated at $6.2 million from Greenway to 230th; a 28-foot cross section estimate was $5.9 million. The staff presentation also noted that culvert replacements, sanitary sewer repairs, drainage, and curb work are required in many options and remain in the scope for the segment from 230th to Highway 97.

Council directions and follow-ups included: research on the right-of-way and potential easements for roughly 38 properties that could be affected by a trail alignment; an expanded staff report on safety trade-offs for on-road shoulders versus an off-road trail; pursuit of grant funding where feasible; and consideration of short-term patching or a limited quote-based maintenance package if interim work is warranted. Staff said it would return with more detailed comparisons and permitting advice before a final decision on the Greenway-to-230th segment.

The discussion clarified that the council’s direction was not a formal vote to permanently cancel the trail; rather, it was staff direction to pause that segment in the current project for further vetting and to proceed with the design and anticipated bid schedule for the 230th-to-Highway 97 portion, which will still include storm-sewer and sanitary repairs, some ditch grading and new striping and signage.

The council’s stated rationale combined fiscal constraints, significant wetland and right-of-way challenges, and competing coop-agreement projects with county and state partners that carry large local shares. Staff emphasized that if the full-reconstruction scope is adopted later, the city should not expect to return to that corridor for another two decades.

Planning and transportation staff also pointed council members to the city’s long-range trail plan, which shows multiple alternative routes and connections; council members asked staff to include the planning map and development potential for adjacent parcels in the next report. The council did not take a formal roll-call vote to remove the segment; the record shows consensus direction and a staff assignment to return with more detailed analysis.