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Trail extension nears completion
Beaver Islands Trail expansion under Division Street should be done by November
By Cory Fechtelkotter
Published:
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Anyone that has lived in the St. Cloud area for very long knows how hard it can be to get across the congested Highway 23/Division Street.
When going downtown from campus, it is not unusual for most of the trip to be spent waiting for a chance to cross the busy street. But for those willing to leave the car behind, the wait will not be so long anymore.
By the time November rolls around, a quarter-mile extension of the Beaver Island Trail will be finished, creating a path under the DeSoto Bridge on Highway 23 for hikers and bikers.
The original trail begins at the St. Cloud Country Club near 33rd Street South; the trail follows an old railroad grade from there to SCSU. The $2 million extension that began in April will run along the Mississippi River from the north end of SCSU to behind the Kelly Inn on the river bank and then rise to ground level near the north end of the Civic Center.
When doing such a large project, so close to a river, it is not unusual for problems to arise.
Tim Smith, one of the project supervisors, explained some of the difficulties he and his crew have encountered.
"We bid it, and it sounded as if no other bidders were on the job, nobody else wanted to tackle it being so close to the river," Smith said.
"There's been a few obstacles. We did have hold up with the 5 x 12s, you don't just buy those at Menard's or Home Depot. A number of them came from St. Louis and that was a special order. They just came in this morning. Also, the storm sewer wasn't where the plan showed it to be when we got started, so we had to build the wall out."
If that wasn't enough, the crew has had to deal with apparent vandalism as well.
"We've had a few sidewalk signs disappear," Smith said. "I don't know if they went swimming or what it was. I don't know what somebody would have to gain form that other than a thrill, throwing them over the bridge up there."
Despite all the troubles, the trail is still expected to be finished on time.
"The majority of the work has been set for October," Smith said. "It hasn't been moved yet, but we are doing additional work on the north end of the Civic Center. Depending on weather, and if we can get the materials we need, were planning on October."
The large amount of construction has cause some inconvenience to the public, closing the one of the sidewalks on the DeSoto Bridge, but it has been more of an issue to the construction crew.
"It's kind of tight on the other side there, were piling some stuff up over on Third Avenue over there, and we need the space. It's getting cramped," Smith said. "I guess the people up on the south side of (Highway) 23 are going to have to have a little patience with us. We've got the sidewalk closed there, keeping them off site."
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