Parks & Recreation

Chester Park Shared Use Ski Trail

Project Status: Planning

Project Overview:

The City of Duluth Chester Park Mini-Master Plan (approved November 2014), and the Cross Country Ski Trail Master Plan (approved May 2015) recommended a trial period for shared use of the existing cross country ski trails at Chester Park. These plans call for a recommendation be made to the Parks and Recreation Commission on or before June 1, 2017 that would address whether to build a separate parallel pedestrian trail or limit use to Nordic skiing in all or major parts of Chester Park.

City Administration extended the trial period to 2019 to allow additional stakeholder and public input. Through this process it is determined that pedestrians and skiers are unable to coexist, and therefore a recommendation, as called for within the Chester Park Mini-Master Plan, will be brought to Parks and Recreation Commission.

Project Update:

The below motion was made by Parks and Recreation Commission at their March 11, 2020 meeting, and passed with an 8-1 vote:

"Align the Chester ski trails with all other City- groomed trails by designating the cross-country ski trails as single use only during grooming season, thereby disallowing shared use, including canine use, during the winter season to preserve the quality, safety, and experience of cross-country skiing on the cross-country ski trails within Chester Park."

Timeline:

Timeline of Process since 2018
Original Trail Signage Implementation – 2017/2018 Winter Season
Public Meeting #1 – February 20^th, 2018
Public User Survey – Spring 2018
Stakeholder Meeting #1 – May 3^rd, 2018
Public Meeting #2 – March 21^st, 2018
Stakeholder Meeting #2 – October 25^th, 2018
New Trail Signage Implementation – 2018/2019 Winter Season
Trail & Camera Installation – 2018/2019 Winter Season
Stakeholder Meeting #3 – May 29^th, 2019
Stakeholder Site Visit – July 8^th, 2019
Parks Commission Informational Presentation - August 14, 2019
Public Comment Period - August 15 - 29, 2019
Parks Commission Action Requested - September 11, 2019
Parks Commission Action Requested- March 11, 2020