By Ian Harding
Thanks to the city of Mahtomedi, the safety upgrades proposed by Lake Links have now been completed as follows:
- 45 sharrows on all "on road" segments of the trail in Mahtomedi
- 8 additional reminder signs for the 20 mph speed limits
- 8 "Share the Road" signs along Park Avenue and Wildwood Beach road
- centerline striping from Neptune St.north to the Dellwood-Mahtomedi city line
Each of these items serves to calm vehicular traffic on the roads and increase user safety on the trail. In my experience Park Avenue is now a delight to ride / walk/ run/ roll along.
We request that pedestrians and bikers stay to the right of the center line markings on the off-road trail sections except to pass (with some kind of audible alert). Please do not cross the solid center lines, which are placed where sight lines are restricted and at junctions and pedestrian crossings, where free flow out of the junction/pedestrian crossing is required.
This system of trail signage and markings represents the current best practices for trails in Minnesota. The City of Mahtomedi is to be congratulated for setting an excellent standard for other government units to follow as we build out the trail around the lake.
There is yet more coming this year: Lighting along the trail from the district center north to the city line with special lighting of the covered bridge and addition of two memorial benches . Stay tuned!