What
started with a quiet walk along an abandoned trolley line may end with some big
changes for a somewhat-forgotten path.
On June 27, a few East Calhoun residents, a couple of Park Board managers and a
city council representative looked at a neglected rail bed stretching from 34th
to 36th streets on a hillside above the banks of Lake Calhoun. The wooded area
has been used by area residents as a walking path for years.
“It’s our only quiet space left in ECCO,” Kay Anderson said. She and her
husband live above the path in the 3400 block of Irving Avenue. “It’s a real
landmark, as far as the history of this area.”
The rail bed is a remnant of the trolley car system that used to run throughout
the metro area, moving people around the Twin Cities and out to vacation homes
on Minnetonka and White Bear Lake.
The stair entrance to the system along this stretch still stands, halfway along
at the end of Coniaris Way (formerly known as Calhoun Place).
Anderson hopes to see interpretive plaques, like the one in place along the Lake
Harriet trolley path, lining the trail in the future, as well as a historic
designation for the area. Costs for improvements and signage are being explored
now, she said. Anderson didn’t know when to expect estimates.
The path, well used by some residents, is a new resource to others. Renee Gust
has lived across the street from Anderson for 10 years, but walked on the path
for the first time last month. She said she’s known about the trail for years,
though.
“I think it’s the best view of the lake,” she said. But, Gust adds, there
are reasons she avoided the path.
“There are fears about the safety of that area. Right now it looks a little
precarious,” she said. She thinks that improving the path and putting in signs
will make it more user-friendly. She would even like to see public art on the
forested trail.
Anderson has already proposed a name for the trail: The Loon Lake Trolley Path.
The next step in fixing the path would be for the Park Board to survey the
public lands in the area. The Park Board hasn’t decided when that will take
place.
