Cedar Lake Trail complete from St. Louis Park to Mississippi River
Some 20 years after it was first conceived, the Cedar Lake Trail is now officially complete. The 3.5-mile bikeway now stretches from St. Louis Park to the Mississippi River. It also links to several other bikeways, making it possible for people to pedal from the suburbs to Downtown and beyond without needing to share the road with motor vehicles.
With the first section opening in 1995, the Cedar Lake Trail is considered America’s first bike freeway because it’s the first one built with two paved lanes for bicycle traffic and one for pedestrians. The final leg, a 1.1-mile section that runs under Target Field and through downtown to the river, was completed just days ago.
The Cedar Lake Trail is expected to become one of the state’s busiest bike thoroughfares because it links other existing bike trails. Bicyclists can now pedal in from the suburbs, through downtown Minneapolis and beyond without ever joining street traffic.
The connections to the Cedar Lake Trail now include:
- Access to trails along the Mississippi River to and from the U of M campus, Saint Paul and beyond.
- The Kenilworth Trail, an off-street bike and pedestrian trail that links to the Midtown Greenway and the Southwest LRT Trail.
- The Hutchinson Spur Trail, which connects to the western end of the Cedar Lake Trail at the city limits for access to and from St. Louis Park, Hopkins and other western suburbs.
- The Luce Line Trail, which connects to the Cedar Lake Trail and heads west through Theodore Wirth Park, Golden Valley and beyond.
More information on the Cedar Lake Trail is available at MinneapolisMN.gov/Bicycles.
Published Jun. 15, 2011