TOWER— Nearly two dozen area trail enthusiasts here reached a consensus this week on how to bring the final few miles of the Mesabi bike trail to Tower. The route had been up in the air for the past few months after officials with the St. Louis and Lake Counties Regional Railroad Authority, which oversees the Mesabi Trail, expressed concern about their ability to find a route into town.
When assistant director Sarah Ciochetti told members of the Tower City Council this past summer that the rail authority was considering using the rail grade south of town, which would have bypassed the city, council members opted to get involved. The city has been investing resources into upgrades around the Lamppa Civic Center, and the train depot in anticipation of completion of one of the final gaps in the 130-mile-long trail, which will eventually run from Grand Rapids to Ely.
Council member Kevin Norby organized a meeting of stakeholders in September, which brought input from several trails organizations, both motorized and non-motorized, along with the DNR, MnDOT, and officials from the Mesabi Trail, to discuss options for getting the trail to town.
At the second meeting of the stakeholders held Monday, the parties all agreed on the alternative, dubbed the Tower link trail, that would provide the connection for the Mesabi Trail to Tower. The Mesabi Trail is currently slated to extend up the west side of Hwy. 135 to Rivers Road, where it would tie into the link trail in the vicinity of the Tower ski trails. The link trail currently connects the trailhead near Lamppa Manufacturing with the Tower ski trails. Ciochetti had originally feared that route was too hilly and would cost too much to meet the ADA standards for the trail. But she told the group that she had since walked the route and believed the hills were manageable.
“And it’s really beautiful back there,” she said.
What’s more, she said, if the Mesabi Trail can use the existing corridor, which is maintained by the Howard Wagoner trails club, the cost of construction and environmental review would be much less than building a new route, as they originally envisioned. Ciochetti said paving that portion of the trail would likely reduce maintenance requirements for the Howard Wagoner club, since the Mesabi Trail would then be responsible for that maintenance. While there were some concerns that the paved trail could lose snow cover sooner than otherwise, potentially shortening the ski season, the Wagoner club members decided the impact would be limited.
Meanwhile, use of the Tower link trail would free up the rail grade south of town for ATV use.
Ron Potter with the Prospector’s ATV trail group, said that the club was hoping to make use of the rail grade for some trail realignment in preparation for the opening of the new ATV campground near Soudan.
The Tower link trail would also be an advantage for the group working on the Lake Vermilion bike trail, which would be a spur off the Mesabi Trail that will connect to the Y Store and Fortune Bay. That trail will be coming to Tower from the west and can connect with the Mesabi Trail somewhere near the existing Tower trailhead.
“It looks like we’re all in agreement,” said Norby, who moderated the meeting.
The agreement prompted more discussion about how all the parties can work together in the future to advance trail building and maintenance in the Tower area to minimize conflict between motorized and non-motorized users by keeping the different uses as separate as possible.
There was some discussion, as well, of funding opportunities and how the groups can cooperate in jointly supporting grant applications as trail development proceeds.
While the group was created as ad hoc to address the Mesabi Trail route, there was consensus that an occasional meeting, possibly twice a year, would be a good way for the groups to stay in contact and work together to support the overall mission of creating recreational trails in the area.