The Federal Highway Administrations Transportation and Community and System Preservation program has awarded a $1 million grant to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) toward the design and construction of the East Bank Trail. The completed project will provide 0.75 miles of off-road bicycle and pedestrian trail on the Mississippi Rivers east bank from 16th Avenue Northeast, in Above the Falls Regional Park, to 8th Avenue Northeast in Central Mississippi Riverfront Regional Park. The trail is anticipated to be complete in 2015.

The prospect of completing the trail, which will link Boom Island Park through the Scherer Bros. site and Sheridan Memorial Park to the BNSF railroad bridge, is all the more exciting in the context of the Park Boards pursuit of the RiverFirst design vision and the Citys increasing attention to the upper riverfront.

In December 2011, MPRB staff prepared the grant application in collaboration with the Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership. The success of the Park Boards application is thanks in part to thirteen letters of support from government agencies as well as private, community organizations and non-profit partners as follows:

US District 5 Congressman Keith Ellison

Minnesota Department of Transportation Mississippi River Trail

City of Minneapolis Ward 3 Council Member Diane Hofstede

City of Minneapolis Department of Public Works

National Park Service Mississippi National River and Recreational Area

Transit for Livable Communities

Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership

Above the Falls Citizen Advisory Committee

Major Taylor Bicycling Club

Sheridan Neighborhood Organization

Graco Inc.

Mississippi Watershed Management Organization

Mississippi River Parkway Commission of Minnesota

Several additional factors strengthened the grant application:

The Park Board committed to a $500,000 match

The proposed trail will extend links to job centers, neighborhoods underserved by the parks and trails network, and an internationally important natural resource the Mississippi River

The policy context of the plan Above the Falls: A Master Plan for the Upper River in Minneapolis, adopted by the City and the park Board in 2000, and the vision document RiverFirst: A Park Design Proposal and Implementation Plan for the Minneapolis Upper Riverfront approved by the Park Board in 2012

The Park Boards readiness demonstrated by the purchase and environmental remediation of the Scherer Bros. site

Further information is available online at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/fhwa1233.htm.

CONTACT: Questions from media:

Dawn Sommers, Communications and Marketing Manager

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Office: 612-230-6407 / Cell: 612-221-9915

dsommers@minneapolisparks.org

Questions from the public:

Andrew Caddock, Project Manager

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

612-230-6470, acaddock@minneapolisparks.org

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