City resumes planning for Segment One

Duluth going with the time-worn meme that an expert is someone from out of town…

The economic impact study that our group provided to the City has some good examples of other rail AND trail systems that are very similar to the proposed one here. The Friends of Western Duluth Parks & Trails (FWDPT) raised $8,000 for UMD’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research to do the study. Check it out. It has some good information. The City staff and City Admin never mention this study. We requested that they do one but they said there was no money and no time over two years ago. When the City feels something needs to be done they find the money. Too bad they do not use what others have provided for them for nothing. Here is a link to the study:

https://lsbe.d.umn.edu/sites/lsbe.d.umn.edu/files/economic_impact_of_lsmr_final_report.pdf

On a side note, the train has been operating for almost 40 years now with no issue of stopping for folks on the track. The top speed of the excursion train is 10 MPH with many areas reduced to 5 MPH. Also, we can create a trail or route around Section One that is totally doable if looked at closer. The Lakewalk has a section like this and is not compliant with transportation funding so they received a variance. This section is not along the lake as it was supposed to be but yet it got done inland a bit. Western Duluth deserves the same focus to help make the rail AND trail a reality. It may not be completed on this City Admin’s watch but can be over a period of time, while still providing access to the river to the neighborhood communities by building the sections that work now and working towards completion of the segments that are more difficult in the future. Let’s get the plan completed, then go about building it like we have done so many times before. Lakewalk and Cross City Trail are the two examples that come to mind.