Eagle Lake and Bryant Lake Regional Trails

As a Baker Road resident, I fully support this project. I thank the project committee for their engagement of Baker Road residents on this project early on by holding ZOOM meetings even with the pandemic to seek input from Baker Road residents first.

This project will not only provide a safe space for my family to walk and bike to adjacent neighborhoods and trails but will improve our property value by increasing access to local trails, restaurants, and events. Currently, I have to take my children on the side of the road when biking/walking due to lack of sidewalks and safe spaces for pedestrians and bikers.

We also appreciate how the narrowing of the shoulder on Baker Road is a key component of this project. The narrowing of the shoulder is likely to positively impact the current issue of speeding along Baker Road by motorists and curb the dangerous practice I frequently see if motorists using the shoulder to illegally pass other vehicles on Baker Road.

Thanks again for all the hard work from the project team on this. We can’t wait to engage further as the design plans continue to develop.

I learned about this project biking by a sign on the east side of Medicine Lake and could not be happier to hear about it. This will provide a much needed safe connection between Luce Line and other northern routes, and the other major trail systems in the west metro. Currently if you wish to get from Medicine Lake to any southern routes it is either a major detour or very sketchy dangerous trip. Love love love this project and can't wait to see it come to fruition.

Unbelievably Arrogant! First infor.ation received at my tax paying residence was dated June 29, 2021. I was uninformed of any "official 30-day public comment period" and I dare say neither were many others who live along Baker Road!
It doesn't take a head up their you-know-where commissioner/planner/engineer/do-nothing organizer to figure out in a "Minnetonka Minute" you already have a "trail" you could pave along the old railroad bed from Hopkins along Shady Oak Lake, Mud Lake which runs RIGHT SMACK DAB next to Lone Lake Park and directly along NICE Mile Creek to Bryant Lake!
This whole "B as in B and S as in S" about "years or decades" from now explains EXACTLY how you people think! A. It ain't your property, B. It ain't your money. I say, use the resources you already have and quit shoving your hair-brained schemes down tax paying residents' throats!

Completely unnacetable.The city of Minnetonka needs to keep us in the loop, especially during the pandemic. I love visiting friends on Baker, but worry about now backing out and worrying not only about cars, but now bikes.Trees will be lost, and privacy will lessen, resulting in house values lessening as well.

Susanne and I put the leaflets together as none of the direct neighbors we talked to had heard of this project and that is completely unacceptable. I am not sure who I am more upset with, Three Rivers for their utter lack of communication to the neighborhood directly affected by this plan OR the city of Minnetonka who would pass such a thing during a pandemic leaving residents completely out of the loop.

Thank you for the note on our mailbox. Its very upsetting that property owners along Baker Road were not contacted about such an overwhelming and invasive project ! We do not want our front yard mature trees taken down for an unnecessary bike path on a very busy road. There are other adequate bike paths close by that could be paved if Three Rivers has money to spend. Valerie , Baker Road resident since 1993

My son and I placed leaflets on mail boxes yesterday as we just learned of this project. I am a Baker Road resident and can assure you that we were NOT informed of this project though my property will be directly impacted. Despite the representation on this webpage that there was public engagement prior to the development of this plan, it seems that none of the property owners who are directly impacted were informed of this decision. Baker Road is already very busy as most residents know, due to its use as a thoroughfare between Excelsior and Minnetonka Blvd. It tends to be the preferred route as it has a bridge over Hwy 7. I assume that this is the reason Three Rivers prefers this route to Shady Oak. However, it is this very feature that makes Baker Road a poor choice for a trail. Significantly more traffic travel all day every day on Baker Road as opposed to Shady Oak. Moreover, the homes on Shady Oak are ALL set further back from the roadway, thus adding a trail to Shady Oak will not have nearly the same impact on home owner privacy and trail user safety. I would also note that the west side of Baker Rd has significant business and school traffic that would be crossing the trail every day. As Baker Road is hilly, it already is difficult for homeowners, the business traffic and the school traffic to enter Baker safely. Adding a trail with two way traffic is extremely hazardous. I agree with the comments below as well that observe that Three Rivers can make use of existing trails to accomplish the proposed route without engaging in this new construction.

Baker Road is not the best choice, speeding and traffic levels are a concern. Shady Oak is a better option. Did they get input from the neighbors whose properties will be impacted? What about the trees that will need to be removed? Kinda counterintuitive for a park district.

Connecting bike trails is great, but I agree with moving purposed trail to Shady Oak as more space, easier access to Willow Park and goes directly down to kids swimming area at Shady Oak Lake as well as Lone Lake and existing bike path to Byrant Park. Baker Road is extremely busy with traffic and houses closer to road way so increase traffic would infringe on home privacy.

We just purchased a home directly on Baker and no one in our area has been informed of this change. Many of us are concerned and upset that we are losing land, privacy, driveway & sewer access, and nothing has been done to inform residents, provide compensation or offer construction options. The city has listed in multiple areas online that the project is "Supported by engaged community members" as well as "residents regard their support and excitement" etc. but they do not list how residents were notified (because they weren't!).
The only reason we found out was because a concerned citizen left a flyer at our mailbox.
One of the biggest reasons we chose our house is because there is storage within an extra parking space for our boat on the driveway. We measured this morning and our driveway is within the future public right of way and where the trail will be constructed. We also have a sewer drain within this range that catches the rain runoff from our home. With the addition of this trail we basically will not a yard in front of our house at all, and our driveway, which runs across the front of our home, will be greatly reduced and will line right up against the trail. We are losing trees, privacy, our front lawn and parking spaces. I love to bike as well as longboard and I do appreciate that the city is looking to build more trails. But, I also believe the city needs to perform due process when making these changes. We feel violated. I do not support this trail.

Pave the current trails, you can get from Minnetonka Mills to Bryant Lake on current trails that are SAFER, this in unnecessary and a higher risk to have bikers on Baker Road when there are existing options. Pave both the trail along Minnetonka Blvd and the trail from Big Willow Park south to Shady Oak Lake to Bryant Lake.

Minnetonka resident on Baker Road since 1993 and am strongly opposed to the current west side route on Baker. Mature trees will be taken away affecting shade and value of my property with no compensation or redress. Additional trail traffic will only add to the difficulty of leaving our driveway and the additional litter we already have from the current bike lane! We have extensively and expensively planted our "hill" to cut erosion to Baker and that will be lost as well. This project WAS NOT extensively proposed to those most affected by the route chosen despite the statements on the website as both my wife and I, and all of our neighbors had not heard of the progression nor the successive milestone passed as detailed on the project website!! The displayed signage and "community notifications" were either non-existent or limited in scope and not directed specifically to those most affected. I will eagerly join and support any opposition raised to this project beginning today and in the months to come! I sincerely hope others will as well !!!! Enough bike access / trails are already provided in Minnetonka and the surrounding communities - they are not/were not meant to be a secondary highway system to provide access routes to virtually everywhere!

I believe it is illegal to knock down 100+ year old oak trees, there is the sewer system under the 12' as well as fire hydrants that are within this plan....there are better options, we need to discuss before we move forward this this plan!!!

This is unbelievable, I am not a supporter of this plan and the lack of communication and input from the residents on Baker Road is unacceptable. You can not just make people aware of this by a 4"x5" note on the mail box the day before you state that public comments are due the next day. There are better options and need to be discussed (i.e. paving the current trails less than two blocks away)…..this is a bad idea and shows serious lack of communication and input of alternative options....UNBELIEVABLE!!! Let's discuss before moving this forward.

I still have concerns about putting the trail directly adjacent along CSAH 73 in Plymouth. Three Rivers should pursue whatever political and/or legal solutions that they can to allow an elevated boardwalk along the edge of the "Open Space" east of CSAH 73. There is a prime example of what that could look like in Bloomington along CSAH 17 (France Ave) that was recently constructed. I don't know who was responsible for that but based on its location, it could be the County, Bloomington, or Three Rivers or most likely, coordination among all three. As I stated during the virtual Open House, moving the trail there provides multiple benefits. It reduces the potential of conflict between traffic and trail users, it provides a better (more natural) environment for trail users, and it provides a direct connection to LaCompte Green park. And, being an elevated trail, it impacts the Open Space only minimally and allows wildlife to move to and from the Open Space without conflict with trail users.

Don't tell me why not, work with me to make it happen.
Bruce & Marilyn Thompson

I have lived in this neighborhood for 46 years and on Baker Road for 25 years. I have been a cyclist for the entire time and still am. I agree with the placement of the D1 segment on the west side of Baker for all of the reasons stated in the plan and a few more; the Jr. High, the ramps on/ off Hwy. 7, the existing crossing and park & ride at Mtka. Blvd. All in all though I would much rather see Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail get paved. Baker has some really steep grades that are challenging to anyone on a bicycle.

Crossing Highway 55 at-grade is a deal breaker. People are going to die.

If you don't have the money to build a bridge, you need to route the trail 1 mile west to utilize the Luce Line crossing underneath 55.

Along with this change, I would encourage you to consider routing the trail along Plymouth Road & Xenium Ln between 394 and the Luce Line.

I live on Baker Road and do not approve of this plan as is. Those of us on the first block of Baker Road have smaller front yards, the right of way is 13 feet from the curb which puts this trail right at my fence and will remove two large mature trees. It is already very difficult to back out of our driveways onto Baker and this proposed plan will only make that worse. Why wasn't Shady Oak considered for this project? The houses are set farther back and the speed limit is lower. Putting the trail on the west side will have serious, negative effects on the people who live here and already have to put up with people regularly speeding by without any enforcement. We should have been notified about this directly and not had to go digging for this info. Very disappointing all around.

My wife and I love to bike and we support any expansion of the regional trail system including this one. However, we continue to be very disappointed that the Lake Minnetonka trail and the Bluffs trail continue to be unpaved. Both of these trails could be paved for a fraction of the cost of building new trails, especially trails requiring massive bridges, boardwalks etc. Makes no sense to us.

I have lived on Baker Road for 42 years. I would love to see a paved trail. I am a cyclist as is my wife. I would like to see a preliminary route and see the design techniques you will use to accomplish this trail. I worked for many bike trails in the area including the Midtown Greenway and the route on Baker Road. I would like to see how much property you will have to acquire and see the rationale for that route. In my experience the concept is always good the reality sometimes not so good. Using bridges to avoid traffic maybe a way to accomplish some of the high accident areas as for solving the preference of where to site the trail good luck. PS I served as a Minnesota State Planner Examiner for 22 years for the Minnesota Department of Administration & Labor & Industry. I watched many discussions re: location. My brother -in- law, Del Miller, worked for Three Rivers park District and we talked about many of the problems in acquiring the land to build the trails. I'd appreciate notice of any public meeting regarding the trail.