Kenilworth Trail

The Kenilworth Trail is a paved bicycle trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs nearly 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and acts as a connector between the Cedar Lake Trail in the north and the Midtown Greenway in the south.[1] Like the Cedar Lake Trail, most of the route is composed of a triple-divided cycleway/pedway with a pair of one-way paths for bicycles and another path for pedestrians. On some maps, a southern segment of the Kenilworth Trail is called the Burnham Trail. The trail corridor has been considered the most highly trafficked in the Minneapolis park system.

Kenilworth Trail
A sign designating Kenilworth Trail as a bicycle commuter route in Minneapolis.
Length1.5 miles (2.4 km)
LocationMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Trailheads
UseCycling, pedestrians
DifficultyEasy

Access

At its northern end, it is easy for westbound Cedar Lake Trail users to accidentally get on the Kenilworth Trail, since continuing on the Cedar Lake trail requires taking a right turn at a "T" intersection just south of Interstate 394. Cyclists who miss the turn find themselves on the Kenilworth instead. In the south, the Kenilworth Trail entrance is only 0.1 miles (160 m) east of where the Midtown Greenway ends and the Southwest LRT Trail (now known as the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail) begins.[2]

Route

The trail starts at the Midtown Greenway, and continues northeast. It crosses Cedar Lake Parkway, and the Cedar Lake Channel. It crosses under Burnham Road, and crosses at-grade 21st Street. It intersects several nature trails and terminates at the Cedar Lake Trail.

History

The trail runs adjacent to a freight railway line that was originally part of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, but is now owned by the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority. The Twin Cities and Western Railroad currently operates freight trains on the rail line.[3]

Management

According to the Minneapolis Bicyclist & Pedestrian Count Report from 2013, approximately 2,100 bicyclists and 410 pedestrians are estimated to use the trail daily.[4] As of 2019, annual visits to Kenilworth Trail totaled 746,000, making the corridor "the most intensely used trail in Minneapolis’ park system given its compact size.[5] In May 2019, the City of Minneapolis closed a portion of the Kenilworth Trail due to construction of the Southwest Light Rail Transit line. The full trail is scheduled to reopen in 2025.[6] Work on the light rail line stopped in January 2022 after damage was detected at a condo unit near the line, but was cleared to resume in April of that year.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. "Cedar Lake Trail". Trail Reviews. Minnesota Inline Skate Club. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  2. "Greenway Map". Midtown Greenway Coalition. Archived from the original on August 11, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  3. Russell L. Olson (1976). The Electric Railways of Minnesota. Minnesota Transportation Museum, Inc.
  4. "Minneapolis Bicyclist & Pedestrian Count Report 2013" (PDF). Minneapolis Public Works Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  5. "Neighbors decry tree cutting on Kenilworth trail preparing for Southwest light rail". Star Tribune. April 22, 2019.
  6. "Green Line Construction Update, May 5, 2023". Met Council Green Line Extension. 2023-05-05.
  7. "'One continuous problem': SWLRT construction causes cracking, flooding at nearby condo building". 21 February 2022.
  8. "Engineers give go-ahead to resume light rail construction near damaged condos". 12 April 2022.

44°57′29″N 93°18′54″W

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