Dayton River Road Trail postponed to 2029

A trail connection along Dayton River Road will see a multi-year delay, but save Dayton several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Dayton City Council agreed on June 25 that building a trail to connect Cloquet Overlook Park to 142nd Avenue could wait until 2029 if it meant Three Rivers Park District and Hennepin County will shoulder the cost.

Construction on the trail was expected to begin in the fall at the latest, according to City Engineer Jason Quisberg.

Shortly after the City Council agreed to pursue design plans in February, Hennepin County shared its plans to reconstruct River Road in 2029. If the trail was in place when reconstruction time came, it would likely be a casualty of demolition.

“With the how extensive that project is, [the county] would expect that any [trail] improvements completed at this time would be wiped out ... at a minimum, impacted or damaged,” Quisberg told the Dayton City Council on June 25.

Dayton was prepared to contribute $545,000 toward the trail connection this year, with Three Rivers Park District likely contributing the remaining $545,000 to a total of $1.09 million.

Quisberg added the caveat that while the park district had shared a general interest in splitting the cost with Dayton, the park district had not confirmed that money had been set aside. He added that the $545,000 cost was in line with what the park district had agreed to fund with previous trail projects.

“It seems reasonable they would consider it, but I don’t intend to speak for them nor have they committed to it,” Quisberg cautioned.

Agenda documents reported that the park district did not view the segment as a “priority extension.” Dayton was prepared to fund the project in its entirety this year and receive reimbursement from Three Rivers in 2025.

Who will pay in 2029?

With the council’s latest direction, the city is now looking at paying $0 for the trail when it is constructed in 2029. Quisberg estimates that a 4% annual increase in project costs will bring the trail’s sticker price to about $1.3 million in 2029. The county will pay for 50% of the trail if it runs concurrent with road reconstruction, and Three Rivers will likely foot the bill for the other half. City Administrator Zach Doud confirmed that Three Rivers had agreed to do so, to a question by Councilmember David Fashant.

City staff offered a handful of reduced cost options should the council want to build the trail in the interim. The City Council did not warm to the idea, as trail specs wouldn’t meet Three Rivers’ requirements and would remove the possibility of the park district paying any portion of costs.

Members of the council did not vote on the item as they were asked to give direction only, but were united in their interest to delay construction until 2029. Mayor Dennis Fisher said it would be “wondrous” to have the trail built sooner rather than later, but agreed that a delay made the most sense.

Fashant agreed.

“I’m really anxious for us to build more trails, but there’s over a million dollars to throw away here,” Fashant said. “Whether it’s ours or the county’s, it’s somebody’s money.”

The segment is located in a northern part of the city, and if completed, would connect all of northeast Dayton (if using both existing trail and on-street travel, per the council packet).

The money that was budgeted for the trail this year will be used for a different priority project chosen by the city’s Parks Commission.