An off-street paved trail on County Road 19 in Tonka Bay, Orono and Shorewood might be years away, but improvements meant to make the road more accommodating to bicyclists could happen sooner.
Hennepin County could paint the shoulders as bike lanes and widen them on nearly three miles of road between the Dakota Rail Regional Trail and the Lake Minnetonka LRT trail as an interim measure until a trail can be built.
In concept plans, an off-street trail is tied to a complete reconstruction of County Road 19, a road that's generally in good shape and is as smooth as any major road for miles around.
"The reconstruction of it would be a long ways off," said Andrew Gillett, principal planning analyst with Hennepin County.
Residents generally have favored the idea of a trail to keep pedestrians, children and others away from traffic, and residents have also advocated for a parkway concept for the road.
On Oct. 23 the city councils of Orono, Tonka Bay and Shorewood held a joint meeting and voted on a resolution of support for both interim and off-street trail options.
The Orono and Tonka Bay councils approved the resolution but Shorewood did not - only three council members were present including Council Member Dick Woodruff, who voted against it.
When asked, Woodruff refused to comment about why he voted nay.
Shorewood plans to again take up the matter at its Nov. 23 City Council meeting.
"Passing resolutions kind of gives them a green light to talk about this, and that's what we're trying to do," Gillett said.
Once everyone can settle on a concept, the discussion would turn to funding.
The bike lanes would cost about $300,000, while a total redo of the road using the parkway concept is estimated at about $15 million.
Gillett said the road already has plenty of bicycle traffic, and bike lanes and wider shoulders would be a worthwhile improvement while waiting for a trail.
The county also plans to engage Three Rivers Park District and the Metropolitan Council.
However, the county could proceed with the bike lane work on its own.
Three Rivers planner Kelly Grissman said that in two open houses last year, residents said they wanted the trail and road to promote a sense of community.
Plans came to reflect that by including a sidewalk on one side, a paved off-street trail on the other and a road with shoulders large enough to accommodate bicycle traffic - a parkway concept.
"They really worked together in these public open houses to recognize a vision that is a lot more comprehensive and is really going to fit their needs rather than putting a Band-Aid on," Grissman said.
The Met Council and Three Rivers could both decide to formally add the trail plan to system plans, but neither agency has done that yet.
"Right now that road is not as friendly as it could be for pedestrians, children, people on bikes," Grissman said.
For Three Rivers, the idea is only one of several trail ideas that have been brought up.
Other park district ideas include:
• Connecting the Lake Independence Regional Trail and Dakota Rail trail through Orono
• Connecting the Dakota Rail trail and the Lake Independence trail from Mound to Maple Plain
• Connecting Baker and Fish Lake regional parks through Medina, Plymouth and Maple Grove
• Extending the Lake Minnetonka LRT trail from Victoria to Lake Waconia
• Making a regional trail along County Road 101 from Wayzata to the Southwest Regional LRT
• Extending the Dakota Rail trail through Wayzata to Minnetonka City Hall.
