A portion of Minnesota's most popular state trail will be blocked off for a week, starting Sunday night, because of work related to a Hwy. 36 construction project.
Both directions of the Gateway State Trail tunnel beneath Hwy. 36 in Pine Springs and Lake Elmo will close temporarily at 10 p.m. and won't reopen until 5 a.m. May 20. Crews will do drainage work along the trail as part of the Hwy. 36/Hilton Trail reconstruction project, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.
Gateway State Trail, 18 miles long, links St. Paul with Pine Point Regional Park in northern Washington County. The western portion of the trail runs through St. Paul, Maplewood and North St. Paul, passing through Phalen-Keller Regional Park.
The Gateway is the busiest state trail, drawing several hundred thousand walkers, runners and cyclists a year. It's about to get busier. It eventually will connect to the new Brown's Creek State Trail.
Kevin Giles
@stribgiles
