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Harrenstein, now the owner of two businesses in Lanesboro, still hits the 60-mile trail with breathtaking views of the limestone bluffs through the rural Minnesota communities of Fountain, Lanesboro, Whalan, Peterson, Rushford and Houston. But he’s noticed changes.
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The Root River State Trail connects the communities of Fountain, Lanesboro, Whalan, Peterson, Rushford and Houston. The 60-mile trail contains sections over 20 years old and in need of re-surfacing.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
“It doesn’t get the kind of use of a black-topped county road, but after almost 20 years now, it’s definitely starting to show its age,” Harrenstein said. “Rollerbladers don’t use our trail anymore. Not too much of a step beyond that bicyclists will stop coming and then the county of Fillmore County takes a big hit, and that’s the story we’re trying to tell.”
A number of Lanesboro business owners such as Harrenstein believe the trail’s worsening condition in older sections could be an economic time bomb for the tourist-rich area.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials and state representatives say issues at other state trails top a tight maintenance budget. The Root River State Trail will be on the list during the next budget cycle two years from now, according to state officials.
Harrenstein and others think the state isn’t addressing the issue fast enough. They advocate the funding of existing state trails should come before spending a projected $10 to $11 million to build new state trails.
“It’s a political matter,” said Dave Huisenga, owner of the Habberstad House Bed & Breakfast in Lanesboro. “Building a new trail is a lot more glamorous than trying to fix up an old one.”
An economic lifeline
In 1985, the Minnesota DNR built the first five-mile leg of the trail along the Root River from the Isinours Forestry Unit to Lanesboro, said Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Julie Kiehne.
The original 36-mile trail was finished and dedicated in 1989, but it’s gradually expanding.
The small town of Lanesboro soon became known as a stopping spot for hungry and road-weary bikers. Commonweal Theater Co., opened the same year of the trail dedication, and it didn’t take long for restaurants and the bed and breakfast joints to follow.
The trail created a symbiotic relationship between the environment and the arts community, said Harrenstein, who owns Lanesboro Web Management Group and Overland Touring Company.
People come for the outdoors, and stay for the theater and arts, he said.
Drawing 200,000 of visitors every summer, the Root River Trail has gained a reputation.
“We’ve been known to really toot our horn to have a trail known as the Cadillac of trails,” Kiehne said. “We have to maintain what keeps the visitors returning.”
The trail drives an estimated $1.5 million every summer of the $18.8 million sales taxes Fillmore County collects annually for recreation, amusement, accommodations and restaurant, according to Kiehne.
Without the trail, Harrenstein said there wouldn’t be a school, grocery store, thriving arts community or many of the downtown storefronts.
“There is an economic story to be told here,” Harrenstein said. “Fillmore County used to be one of the most impoverished counties in the state and then the trail came through and changed everything. We’re scared the $20 million dollars that comes into this county every year will go away because the trail falls into disrepair. It really comes down to meat and potato issues.”
Potholes and Shrinking Money Pots
Little River General Store owner Kirsten Mensing never heard of a bicycle accident along the Root River Trail until three years ago.
“I had two emergency calls this year,” Mensing said. “(The potholes are) dangerous and (the state) just needs to address it and they’re not addressing it fast enough.”
A couple of years ago, one of Huisenga’s bed and breakfast guests went to the hospital with a serious head injured after hitting a pothole despite wearing a helmet. He said another guest broke their upper arm that summer.
Mensing, Huisenga and other community volunteers are the first check out the trail after the winter, using a DNR tamping machine and asphalt to patch potholes.
It’s because the business owners in town have their livelihood staked in the trail.
“We used to be the granddaddy of trails, but more are getting built,” said Mike Charlebois, owner of the Riverside on the Root and Root River Outfitters. “…If our trail isn’t a good experience for (visitors), they’ll go somewhere else.”
Sections of the Root River State Trail are now 23 years old. The life expectancy of an asphalt trail averages 15 to 20 years, said Craig Blommer, state DNR trails and waterways supervisor.
Gopher holes, potholes and widening cracks along the Root River State Trail have progressively worsened, he said, especially the first segments from Lanesboro to Whalan and from Lanesboro to Fountain.
“In this case you’ve got black top that’s 20 years old,” Blommer said. “You can’t do daily routine maintenance. You’ve got to replace.”
Blommer, who started with the state agency about 25 years ago, said the state did a lot of trail paving in the early and mid 1980s. The trails are all aging, he said, and now everything’s coming due at the same time.
Some passages like Luce Line State Trail and other northern state trails have bridges in such disrepair it’s caused closures, he said.
Blommer estimated it costs $75,000 per trail mile to tear up old blacktop and repave. A single bridge can cost between $500,000 and $1 million, he said.
With a possible $3 million to $4 million trail rehabilitation budget and the high cost of maintenance, Blommer said the state’s Parks & Trails Council made opening closed trails a priority.
“We have less money to take care or maintain a growing trail system,” Blommer said. “We’re very aware of what the trail means to Lanesboro and those towns as far as the economic benefit n these businesses rely on them for their lifeline. This will be on our list again in the next going around.”
New vs. Old
In this year’s ongoing state Legislative discussions, between 20 and 30 percent of the budget for new and existing state trails will go to trail rehabilitation.
The House earmarked $4 million for trail rehabilitation out of $13.52 million.
It includes $350,000 for two new Root River Trail additions to link Preston, Minn., to Forestville State Park and Houston to Mound Prairie, Minn.
The Minnesota Senate version allots $3 million for trail maintenance out of a $14.6 million budget. It provides $500,000 for the Root River Trail’s Preston addition and $200,000 for the Mound Prairie addition.
Sen. Sharon Ropes, DFL-Winona, understands the concerns from Lanesboro about funding what’s there before building new. She’s said it before regarding higher education.
“Yet, building new trails is economic development n jobs, money and public health,” Ropes said. “We want to make sure we’re moving forward a little bit at a time in different areas.”
Trail maintenance funding shortfalls are a microcosm for everything else in the state, Ropes said.
“It’s the same thing happening in health care. It’s the same thing happening to the education system. It’s the same thing happening with transportation,” Ropes said. “The needs are growing and the revenue is shrinking.”
Ropes said she’s been assured by the DNR the Root River State Trail is a top priority for the next budget.
Concerns over the Root River Trail’s wear and tear have been bubbling for several years, Kiehne said. Now, it’s boiled over.
Kiehne said the warmer weather after a hard winter, last year’s flood and a tough economic outlook has led to several conversations with local legislators and a community forum in the past month.
Discussions on the state possibly charging a trail user fee to fund maintenance brought mixed feelings, she said. Some people like Harrenstein feel pass-generated dollars would be absorbed by enforcement costs.
“(The state) built the trail. They caused the business environment to develop along it,” Harrenstein said. “We’re asking them to maintain the trail they built … We’re not any trail.”
Contact reporter Amber Dulek at amber.dulek@lee.net or 507-453-3513.
