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Loop work to wrap up this year

Subhead
Final leg connects path from river to Hatting, South 75
By
Lori Sorenson

Reker Construction, Adrian, will complete the final phases of the Luverne Loop trail after submitting the low bid for the construction work.
Phase 4 is almost a mile long and will connect the existing Loop trail from the Highway 75 Economy Lodge area along Hatting Street to the existing trail that dead-ends at the Rock River near the Luverne wastewater treatment plant area.
The most recent construction, Phase 3A, built the Loop from the existing Blue Mound Trail along berm of the Rock River near the city park and behind Redbird Field and southward.
This is the scenic, rural and wooded area along the river formerly owned by Warren Baker. It is enrolled in the permanent conservation easement RIM, Reinvest in Minnesota.
Phase 3B is .75 miles and will bring the trail at the north end of the community, around Sanford area and east to connect with the Blue Mound Trail.
The total cost of the project is $806,864, which includes an alternate bid to use concrete instead of asphalt.
“It is the opinion of staff and engineers that the concrete section around the waste water treatment area, which is close to the river, would have a longer life expectancy and lower long-term maintenance costs compared to asphalt,” said City Administrator John Call.
“John Stoffel was very adamant about that. … It’s just a better product for that area.”
Call said there’s also a creek crossing in this area, which is part of RIM — a permanent conservation easement through Reinvest in Minnesota.
A $130,000 culvert (previously bid) will be built for the creek.
“So, if you add that on to this, and you add the engineering, the total cost of the project is close to $1.1 million, which is actually very close to the state’s estimate,” Call said.
The project has received an $839,300 grant from the state of Minnesota, and the city will match 30 percent of the project, $359,700.
“That’s a 70-30 match, so I think the council and our citizens can feel very good about that,” Call said.
Mayor Pat Baustian said there’s interest among residents and visitors alike in the Loop being complete.
“It will be great to get it done. What an attribute for our community,” Baustian said.
“I was in Adrian where people were asking me when it will be done. There’s interest in other communities in using the trail.”
The Loop and the Blue Mound Trail to the state park offers 13 contiguous miles, which is popular among users and prompted the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission to name the Loop a “Regional Trail of Significance.”
That designation qualifies the local trail for more grant funds and other state support.

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