PROJECT
The Minot Park District (MPD) owns a 47-acre piece of heavily-wooded property along the Souris River adjacent to the Highway 83 Bypass in Minot, ND. The entire property is within the Souris River floodway, which severely limits the potential for usability. The MPD hired KLJ to study recreational opportunities for the site that would not impact the floodway.
SOLUTION
Our project team, consisting of landscape architects and civil engineers, inventoried site conditions, analyzed potential trail system alignment, and assembled construction documents for a proposed trail system: Woodland Trail. Phase 1 of the trail included the construction of a 6-foot-wide, 3,100-foot-long crushed aggregate trail with a small trailhead parking lot and trail entrance sign. Phase 1 became an immediate success our team was brought on-board again to design the second phase of Woodland Trail.
Phase 2 consisted of the construction of an additional 4,450 feet of crushed aggregate trail. A major obstacle was finding a solution to crossing two dead loops (oxbows) of the Souris River to seamlessly connect the trail system together. Our team used manufactured floating docks and gangways to cross the dead loops without disturbing the natural river corridor. This method eliminated the need to add any fill material in the floodway.
RESULTS
The completed Woodland Trail, a nature trail, is a unique addition to Minot’s trail system. It provides the opportunity for trail users to experience the Souris River’s ecosystem up-close. It also provides foot access to a fishing pier on the Souris River that can’t otherwise be reached. The trail also makes sound use of undevelopable property. It connects to an existing paved shared-use path along the Highway 83 Bypass and Souris River that connect to multiple other public green spaces and residential areas.
