EDA votes to support DNR plans for Fall River bike trail bridge

The Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) tackled a number of matters at its September 18 meeting. In addition to the usual items on the EDA agenda--housing, the business park, the Lutsen golf course--there was a proposal for the EDA to lend support to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's plan for a trail bridge over Fall Creek in Grand Marais. 

The bridge in question is part of the upcoming construction of a new three-mile section of the Gitchi-Gami State Trail. The new segment will start at Fall River Road in Grand Marais and go south along Lake Superior to Cutface Creek, where there’s a rest area on Highway 61. 

Proposed amenities include observation areas and interpretive signage—and the bridge over Fall River, which has raised some citizen concern.

WTIP was at the open house to explain the plan in July. Hear some of the comments about the proposed bridge in that WTIP report.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2019, with completion anticipated by summer 2020

Rhonda Silence spoke with EDA President Howard Hedstrom about the EDA’s motion regarding the Gitchi-Gami Trail and the bridge.

For more information, visit mndnr.gov/state_trails/gitchigami or contact the DNR Information Center by emailing [email protected]or by calling 888-646-6367 (8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday).