Minnetonka's off-road bikers may soon have their own trails, now that the City Council has allotted $130,000 for their construction in 2018.
The money was earmarked in the city's Capital Improvements Program, which the council approved on June 12.
One concept plan includes a couple of 2-mile trails, each 18 inches wide, in Civic Center Park and Big Willow Park and connected by a mile-long stretch of a commuter trail that runs along Minnetonka Boulevard. The trails would be designed for beginning to intermediate riders and separated from walking and biking trails for safety.
Mountain biking advocates have pushed for more than a year to get funding for the trails, which they say would be the first designated off-road biking trails in Minnetonka.
Ben Marks, a Minnetonka resident and mountain bike trail advocate, started the movement to build the trails through conversations he had with city officials about 15 months ago. He said he wanted trails specifically for off-road biking so they could be sustainable, instead of the undesignated, multiuse trails that have developed naturally throughout Minnetonka.
"That was really the motivation behind us beginning to work with the city to develop these designated trails," he said.
Marks, who is president of a wealth management group, said he's not "that guy" who advocates for causes. "I just lit the match," he said.
He worked with a group of Minnetonka High School students through the Vantage program to raise funds and conduct a feasibility study for construction of the trails. Students in the program partner with professionals to develop projects in various fields.
