Work to construct a bike and pedestrian tunnel under Main Street in the Heights at Montana is slated to begin soon. While CMG Construction has begun work on the trail that will run up to the tunnel on either side of Main Street, Stillwater Excavating plans to start boring the tunnel next week.
The 200 ft (60m) tunnel will run through a steel culvert 14 ft (4.2m) in diameter, with a 10 ft (3m) concrete trail running down the middle. The culvert will sit alongside an existing 15 ft (4.5m) culvert that carries Alkali Creek under Main Street, and the trail is designed to provide backup drainage, when the creek is running at flood levels.
Stillwater Excavating has quoted USD 1.47M to complete the tunnel portion of the project, while CMG will charge USD 203,000 for the concrete trail work. The funding for the project will be arranged through federal stimulus money, federal transportation funds and some contributions from BikeNet, a local trails advocacy group.
The proposed trail segment will connect on the west with existing or proposed trails along Alkali Creek Road, Aronson Avenue and Black Otter Trail. On the east side of Main, the trail will connect with the Earl Guss Trail, which runs into a trail that stretches from downstream of the city water plant all the way to Mary Street at the north end of the Heights.
Work on the trails near Main Street is expected to be completed in August, while the tunnel is expected to be completed early in October.
The USD 750,000 project will make use of a century-old steel bridge to span the tracks and give cyclists and pedestrians a safe way to get to Montana Avenue from Minnesota Avenue.
The cost of the project includes USD 120,000 for a car park on the Minnesota Avenue side of the bridge. The Parking Advisory Board has tentatively agreed to contribute funding for the lot and BikeNet is prepared to donate USD 7,500.
