Three Rivers Park District prepared the Crystal Lake Regional Trail Master Plan to provide an 11-mile trail connection from Victory Memorial Drive in Minneapolis to the Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove, with additional connections to the cities of Robbinsdale, Crystal, Brooklyn Park, and Osseo.
This 2.4-mile segment spans the City of Robbinsdale from the City of Minneapolis to the City of Crystal along the east side of County Road 81. Introducing a 10-foot wide shared-use path presented a variety of trail, structural, traffic, stormwater and municipal engineering challenges in this urban environment. Narrow rights of way, multiple crossings of busy urban roadways, coordination with adjacent construction projects, and utility relocations were overcome to develop this trail.
This segment of the trail closes a challenging gap and connects the Crystal Lake Regional Trail with the Twin Lakes Regional Trail near TH 100, the City of Minneapolis Grand Rounds system, and local trail system, while passing through the Twin Lakes Boat Access, Spanjers Park, and Lakeview Terrace Park. SRF also provided construction administration services for this federally funded project.