Many people are planning on staycations during the pandemic and cabin fever season. Snowbird neighbors are not likely to migrate to their winter nests in Arizona. Instead, they’ve hired a high school kid with a snowblower and making do. To get out into the fresh air over the next few months, many are planning to hike along Eden Prairie’s 120 or so miles of bike trails and 13 miles of nature trails. Below are several ‘trail staycations’ options in Eden Prairie over the next few months: Lake Smetana / Nine Mile Creek Loop Trail7620 Smetana LaneMap http://gis.edenprairie.org/RunningRoutes/Lake_Smetana_Route.pdf The Nine Mile Creek…
Author: Jeff Strate
Jeff Strate
An Eden Prairie resident since 1994, Jeff has served as an organizer for local open-space initiatives and get-out-the-vote parks referenda. He has also served on the Eden Prairie Human Rights and Diversity Commission, conservation area task forces, the Southwest Light Rail Community Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Land Trust. Jeff studied journalism and mass communication at the U of MN and has been a producer/writer and occasional on-camera figure in the Twin Cities, New York, Boston, and Trenton. Jeff has written for websites and magazines and has produced award-winning access programing through Southwest Community Television (SWTV).
On November 6 the Southwest Light Rail Transit Project reported winter construction work on utilities, right-of-ways, bridges, tunnels and stations in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Hopkins, St. Louis Park and Minneapolis will focus on specific sites. Southwest Station AreaDriving and construction work on the new parking ramp next to the existing ramp and the joint bus-train station will continue through winter. Although the right-turn lane on the eastbound Highway 212 ramp to Prairie Center Drive remains closed, right turns are can be made at the intersection.Drivers can also expect intermittent lane closures on Prairie Center Drive between Southwest Station and Singletree…
A Purgatory Creek footbridge the morning after a November 10 snowfall.
October 31, 2020, Eden Prairie – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, U.S. Senator Tina Smith and Congressman Dean Phillips were welcomed to the Cummins-Phipps-Grill House campus on Pioneer Trail Saturday afternoon by an enthusiastic and socially-distanced, Halloween array of local DFL candidates and their campaign teams. Smith and Phillips are running for re-election and were part of Saturday’s ‘Get Out the Vote’ caravan of cars and a graphically painted van. The caravan started on Skyline Drive in Duluth, motoring on to rallies in St. Cloud, Wayzata, Eden Prairie, and North Minneapolis. Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin emceed the event from…
On Friday, November 6, 10 am on Facebook Live a ‘virtual’ groundbreaking ceremony will launch a critical wildfowl habitat restoration project along the Minnesota River opposite southeast Eden Prairie. The public is invited to join environmentalist from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service for the 30-minute, on-site ceremony. The ceremony will include shoveling of dirt and discussion via laptops, desktops and smart phones at www.facebook.com/usace.saintpaul/. The Bass Ponds, Marsh and Wetland Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Project includes approximately 2000 acres of floodplain that cradles three lakes and a large marsh on the north…
The closure of all lanes of Prairie Center Drive near Southwest Station between Technology Drive and Singletree Lane that was postponed last week has been rescheduled for Wednesday November 4 from 7 am. to 6pm. Southwest Light Rail Transit project contractors will be pouring cement on the deck of the new bridge that spans Prairie Center Drive. SWLRT community outreach coordinator James Mockovciak, tells EPLN that forewarning signage about the one day closure is expected to be posted on the area’s roads Wednesday, Oct. 28.
UPDATE- The Southwest Light Rail project has announced that Prairie Center Drive near Southwest Station closure originally scheduled for Thursday, October 22, from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM has been delayed until early November. According to James Mockovciak, SWLRT Community Outreach Coordinator for Eden Prairie, the delay is due to the contractor postponing work because of inclement weather. Construction crews will be pouring concrete for the deck of the new bridge that now spans Prairie Center Drive, one of Eden Prairie’s busiest roads. In its weekly construction update, the Project also notes that Eden Road, which is partially closed, is…
As lazy snowflakes feathered Eden Prairie pumpkin displays on Monday, the City of Eden Prairie re-issued its annual list of emergency heavy snow rules. These rule kick in with with the advent of heavy snows and concern street plowing, parking, and trash can placement. Per an update from the City of Eden Prairie a “Snow Event is effective October 20-21 and a Snow Emergency is in effect.” There are two stages to a snow emergency in Eden Prairie: First, the City will announce a “Snow Event” when two or more inches of white are forecast. Second, the City will announce…