31 August 2023
PARK RAPIDS, Minn. Construction of the Itasca-Heartland Connection Trail began on Monday, Aug. 28.
The trail is a multi-purpose, paved connection between Itasca State Park and the Heartland Trail. It will serve bicyclists, snowmobiles and outdoor enthusiasts.
U.S. Highway 71 is closed at both ends of the dig, with detours in place while crews install a 12-by-12-foot boxed culvert tunnel about one-third of a mile south of the intersection with State Highway 200.
“We’re hoping to get a start on that box by Friday,” said foreman Luke Paine, with Gladen Construction Inc. of Laporte.
Motorists are being directed from U.S. Highway 71 to Hubbard County State Aid Roads 4 and 40.
The south and east entrances to Itasca State Park remain open.
MnDOT says the project is expected to be complete by Sept. 23, weather permitting.
Construction of the 24-mile trail is split into three phases. Tunnel construction is part of Phase 1.
Earlier this year, the 2023 Minnesota Legislature awarded a $2.4 million bonding request for the environmental review, predesign, design and construction of the trail, beginning from Itasca State Park’s contact station to the park’s southeast boundary and through a tunnel under Highway 71, then continuing east of the tunnel for about two miles, where it will connect with an existing snowmobile trail.
The tunnel will have multi-use pavement flooring, allowing groomers to bring snow into the structure.
“The intent is to make the tunnel available to snowmobiles this winter. However, we will have to confirm the final condition of the approaches to assure that they can safely use it,” said Kent Skaar, senior project manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Parks and Trails Division.
Skaar said trail construction from the park’s Jacob Brower Visitor Center to the west side of the tunnel could tentatively begin in 2024.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the start of trail construction is tentatively planned for next spring or summer, with the possibility of trail construction beginning from Itasca State Park to the west side of the tunnel in 2024.
An Itasca-Heartland Connection Trail committee meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, at the Hubbard County Public Works building, located at 101 Crocus Hill St. in Park Rapids.
“This will be an important meeting discussing the next action for the trail after the installation of the tunnel under Highway 71. DNR engineers will discuss the trail’s engineering study,” said committee member Eric Haugland.
Safe access routes to Minnesota’s most popular park have long been a priority, and the DNR considers this a “destination trail.”
When additional funds are available, the second phase of trail construction will continue 13 miles east to Emmaville on county land. The third phase will go south eight miles from Emmaville on a county road right-of-way to the intersection with the Heartland Trail, where a trailhead will be constructed.
A citizen-led committee has championed constructing the trail for a decade.
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