A rendering of St. Anthony Boulevard between Stinson Boulevard NE and Kenzie Terrace in St. Anthony. Currently, the MPRB expects to have the design phase completed in 2028. (Provided)
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) hosted a presentation at its headquarters on November 19, seeking approval for a plan to connect the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway after decades of consideration.
The project would involve designing and constructing a four-mile section (called the “Missing Link”) through the Northeast Park, Mid-City Industrial, Como and Prospect Park neighborhoods.
The Byway is a 51-mile connected system of parks, trails and parkways that circulates through the city. It is primarily for bikers and pedestrians. Plans to complete the project go back nearly a century.
Much of system was built in the 1930s as part of Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps projects. It wasn’t until 2018 that MPRB and the Metropolitan Council updated the trail plan, which now serves as the policy framework for the ongoing regional trail construction. The MPRB shared a draft concept plan with the community during a spring 2025 engagement process and refined it to become the final concept plan for the entire four-mile Missing Link corridor, as well as an anticipated first phase of implementation.
The project’s complexity involves what MPRB calls “critical partners” that include the University of Minnesota, Hennepin County, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Anthony Village, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO). MPRB says it needs to garner community support and negotiate acquisitions for land that it doesn’t already own.
MPRB Project Manager Julie Aldrich called the project “a once in a generation opportunity to reshape the way our community moves, connects and thrives… We have the chance to create a transformative living corridor allowing people to commute more sustainably, more freely and connect seamlessly across neighborhoods and destinations throughout our city.”
The full corridor concept plan and a first phase of implementation was approved by MPRB Planning Committee that night, and full approval for the plan and a first-phase implementation project was granted at the December 3rd Board meeting. MPRB will bring the concept forward to city and county for concept-level approvals and commence design work towards the first phase of implementation.
That design phase is anticipated to take approximately a year to begin in the spring/summer of 2027, with an anticipated completion in the spring/summer of 2028. Physical construction will begin after that. The entire project has been broken into four segments, running from St. Anthony Parkway in St. Anthony Village south to the Mississippi River at Prospect Park.
Aldrich said the current preliminary budget is estimated at around $6.5 million. The Mid-City portion of the plan (Segment Two) fits this budget allowance. That segment stretches from Broadway Street to East Hennepin Avenue along Industrial Blvd in Northeast’s Mid-City Industrial neighborhood.
The trail will also connect to existing trails along Ridgway Parkway and Broadway Street, filling a gap in the city’s pedestrian and bike network while preserving opportunities for new parkland along the way.
Aldrich noted that the proposed design aims to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility by adding a trail and sidewalk, enhancing the streetscape by narrowing the boulevard, creating a more defined pedestrian space and preserving truck access and traffic flow.
On the north end, a potential public plaza trail space at the intersection of Industrial Boulevard NE and Broadway Street “could serve as a gateway to the Mid-City Industrial neighborhood, providing shade and wayfinding for trail users while treating runoff from rain and snow. The existing road has a very wide median and a turn lane in the center, and there are two lanes of traffic in each direction, currently with no sidewalks on either side. The existing boulevard is wide and has mature trees, and the proposed design aims to reduce the number of vehicular lanes and repurpose them for a new trail.”
Aldrich added that Minnesota parks and trails are funded through a combination of state, local and dedicated funds, including Transportation Improvement Program allocations, state bonding and the Parks and Trails Legacy Fund from the 2008 Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
At the public hearing portion of the meeting, four people, all residents of the affected neighborhoods, gave their thoughts about the project. Three were generally in favor, and one was concerned that the plan didn’t deal with challenges presented by the proximity of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe bridge and the entry/exit issues with the Mississippi River bridge.