News of long-awaited trail shared with board

The Freeborn-Waseca regional trail was an item of discussion during the Waseca County Board of Commissioners work session the morning of March 6.

Freeborn County Public Works director Philip Wacholz and county commissioner Nicole Eckstrom updated board members regarding progress made toward constructing the first phase of a trail which, someday, might serve as a connection between the six-mile “Blazing Star” state trail in Albert Lea and the Sakatah State Trail at Waterville, a distance of about 40 miles.

Freeborn County began preparing a “master plan” for such a trail in 2018 and had approached Waseca County about possible collaboration, but the work “stalled out” and no agreement was reached.

Eckstrom explained processes to begin the trail have been ongoing in Freeborn County, and funds have been set aside over time to spend toward the project. The trail would be built on the 12 miles of former Union Pacific right of way which the county owns from Albert Lea most of the way to Hartland. 

At this time, Freeborn County has well formulated plans for a “first phase” of the trail–about five miles of paved surfacing from Fountain Street in Albert Lea to a “trailhead” to be located at Manchester.

Wacholz and Eckstrom revealed Freeborn County has $650,000 set aside for this first phase, and is putting together a grant proposal for about $6 million more through a variety of state sources including the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) “active transportation” program meant to expand opportunities for “walking, biking and rolling.”

Eckstrom told Waseca County Board members the planned first phase will likely be the most expensive section of the future trail, since the piece of railroad right of way between Albert Lea and Manchester includes four bridges, all four of which would need to be reconstructed. The largest single cost of this first phase would be a safe crossing from the city either above or beneath Highway 13 over to the former railway. 

Wacholz mentioned MnDOT will not allow an “at-level” crossing, so either a tunnel or a bridge will be needed; construction costs for that structure alone are estimated at about $3.5 million.

The two went on to explain the process forward includes acquiring designation as a regional trail. Not only would it be good to have plans officially in place, they said, but Freeborn County’s grant application is likely to be received more positively as part of an initiative toward the hoped-for 40-mile trail between Albert Lea and Sakatah State Park.

Eckstrom commented she has encountered high levels of enthusiasm regarding the trail from her constituents and from Freeborn County businesses, organizations and communities. She described the steps necessary to get all needed elements in place for construction as “a time-consuming process” which requires coming to agreements with numerous public and private entities.

“There are obstacles,” she stated. “But there are also ways of getting around them.”

Key players in making the full-length regional trail a reality, and in showing state-level agencies the $6 million in grant requests have merit, according to Eckstrom, are Waseca and Freeborn counties and the cities of Albert Lea and Waseca. 

Wacholz and Eckstrom told Waseca county board members the updated version of the regional trail master plan should be finalized in the next few months. Once it is, the county will be offered a chance to review it thoroughly, then asked to make its support of the plan official.

Waseca’s board members expressed enthusiasm regarding the update. 

Commissioner Brian Harguth asked county facilities management director Brian Tomford and public works director Jim Kollar whether Waseca County is in a position to continue supporting work toward a regional trail.

Kollar observed, “We’re a long way from construction because we don’t own the right of way,” but acknowledged that work toward the trail would be beneficial.

Community development coordinator Tina Wilson observed, “The City of Waseca has done lots of work on trail collaboration.

“We’ve been having this conversation.” Regarding Freeborn County’s request, Wilson said, “It starts with this master plan.”

She suggested being a “good neighbor” and supporting Freeborn County’s efforts would also benefit Waseca County, since it will someday be in a position to apply for similar grants, and having portions of the trail already constructed to the south would give weight to its applications.

Furthering a statement by Eckstrom that, “These trails transform communities,” Waseca commissioner De Malterer mentioned her district includes a small portion of the town of Elysian. “I know what the Sakatah Trail does for that community,” she commented. “It allows all these visitors to see what we’ve got, and help grow what we’ve got.”