REGIONAL— The Mesabi Trail, now just a handful of miles from completion, is a testament to the power of persistence, and a whole lot of patience.
When Bob Manzoline assumed the role of project manager back in the late 1990s, he couldn’t have imagined it would consume the next quarter century of his life. “I really thought this thing would be done by now,” he said during a recent interview with the Timberjay.
To date, they’ve completed over 155 miles of paved trail between Grand Rapids and Ely, but it’s the final handful of miles that have proven to be the most challenging. Take the roughly two-and-a-half-mile stretch from Wahlsten Rd. to Wiseman Rd. For years, Manzoline tried to line up easements along the stretch but found steady resistance from local residents in fiercely independent Kugler Township. While there’s considerable public land to the east of Hwy. 135, the terrain proved too difficult. “The hills and swamps back in there are so rugged we couldn’t find a way,” said Manzoline.
Eventually, Manzoline came to the conclusion that they would need to pursue a route within the existing right-of-way of Hwy. 135. That reduces the scenic qualities of the trail, but is still better than the existing break in the trail, which remains the longest gap along the route from Grand Rapids to Ely.
But even operating within the highway right-of-way didn’t end the challenges. “We’ve had a heck of a time getting permitting from MnDOT,” said Manzoline. Most of the route has been relatively manageable. It will run along the east side of the highway from Wahlsten Rd. north about a mile and a half before crossing over to the west side near the Lakes Gas propane storage tank. The biggest engineering challenge has been at the intersection with Wiseman Rd., since the large white house located on the south side of Wiseman Rd. is very close to the right-of-way, which would put bikers very close to the house.
“We’ve been trying to solve that problem with our engineers for quite a while,” said Manzoline. “We submitted the plan to MnDOT six months ago, and have been going back and forth on it. I think we’re to the end of the back and forth, but that’s been the big holdup.”
While Manzoline has mostly given up trying to predict forward progress on the trail, he’s hopeful that the St. Louis and Lake County Regional Railroad Authority that operates the trail will soon have permits in hand that will allow the trail to extend as far north as the West Two River crossing, found about a quarter mile north of Wiseman Rd. The funding is already in place so once the permits are issued, Manzoline said bidding could go out pretty quickly, possibly this fall with a possible start of construction yet this year and completion expected in 2025.
As for the stretch from the river crossing to Tower, Manzoline can only shrug his shoulders. “We have no timeline for the final stretch and I would fear to even give you one,” he said.
Maintaining existing trail
Even as the rail authority works to bridge a couple of the remaining gaps in the trail, Mother Nature seems insistent on creating new ones. That’s particularly true of a location near Biwabik, where an old drainage channel from the mining days has repeatedly damaged the trail as a result of heavy runoff. “It has been a problem for years,” said Manzoline, who is looking at a possible reroute of the trail in the area. “Rebuilding it without a long-term solution doesn’t make sense to me. It’s the third time we’ve had a major incident there.”