This Winter, the Dakota Rail Trail Gets Used for Its Other Job

The Dakota Rail Regional Trail in Orono, from North Shore Drive to Orono Orchard Road, closes on December 1 and stays closed through March 31. That stretch is about two miles. Three Rivers Park District says no detour will be posted around it. The cause is a new regional sewer pipe. Most of that pipe runs under Orono's streets, and the trail carries only its last leg. The project started on paper years ago and is set to run into 2028.

This is how a former railroad grade works. The flat, continuous corridor that makes the Dakota Rail easy to walk is the same thing that makes it a good route for pipes and power lines. This winter, two separate utility projects are using it at once.

Three Closures, Three Agencies, One Season

Orono's closure is one of three on the trail this fall and winter. Each comes from a different agency, and the dates overlap.

Of the three, only the Commerce Boulevard work comes with a posted detour. The trail stays open between the closed sections. Three Rivers says it booked the work for fall and winter on purpose, since trail use drops sharply in those months. The Xcel closure runs west of downtown Mound and past Gale Woods Farm. The Orono closure ends at Orono Orchard Road, home of Orono Public Golf Course at 265 Orono Orchard Road South.

Why a Sewer Line Follows a Bike Trail

The Met Council calls it Orono Sewer Improvements, Project 802897. On the engineering side it is Orono Interceptor 7113. The existing 7113 forcemain was built in 1979 and serves Lift Station L59. The old pipe isn't being replaced. The project adds a second, fully redundant forcemain beside it, plus the structures and meters that connect the two.

A 2024 Council item gives the reason. Peak flows at L59 top 1,000 gallons per minute. That's more than tanker trucks can handle to keep service running if the forcemain goes down. A second line also lets crews inspect the pipe without cutting off sewer service. In plain terms, the old pipe has had no backup for most of its life.

The new pipe's route explains why the trail closes at the end of the project and not the start:

1. It starts at Lift Station L59 on Lilac Lane.
2. It runs south along Lilac Lane and Old Crystal Bay Road.
3. It turns east on North Shore Drive.
4. It heads north on Brown Road.
5. Near Brown Road and Lakeview Avenue, it joins the Dakota Rail Trail and follows it northeast to Orono Orchard Road.

The existing pipe takes a different path. It shares the first stretch with the new one, then keeps going east to Shoreline Drive and follows it northeast. Putting the new line on the trail keeps the two pipes apart for most of the way.

The Streets Carry the Longer Story

At the Met Council meeting on May 27, 2026, the Council authorized Contract 25P335 for Meyer Contracting Inc., not to exceed $25,657,165.46. The Met Council expects construction to start in late 2026 and finish in spring or summer 2028.

The trail closure lasts four months. The project lasts far longer because crews will work one street at a time. The Met Council says this approach makes the project take longer but avoids long-term disruption across the neighborhood. Crews will use open trenches in some places and tunnel underground in others. The project page doesn't say which street comes first or give dates for Lilac Lane, Old Crystal Bay Road, North Shore Drive or Brown Road.

On each street, the Met Council says to expect the following:

• Road closures, intersection restrictions and detours
• Dust, noise, odors, vibration and visual disruption
• Above-ground temporary bypass pipes that carry sewer flow around the work site
• Diesel pumps with noise dampening that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week

Driveway access will stay open. Where bypass pipes have to go under a driveway or road, property owners will be told ahead of time. Sewer service isn't supposed to stop at any point during construction.

The in-person pre-construction meeting was Thursday, September 24, at Minnetonka Center for the Arts, 2240 North Shore Drive. If you missed it, you can reach the project at 952-521-4740 or [email protected]. The project manager is Dan Fick, a principal engineer in Interceptor Engineering. You can also sign up for email or text alerts on the project page.

What the Trail Gets Back

Three Rivers says every trail section affected by the sewer work will be repaved as part of the project. That means about two miles of the Orono stretch get new pavement out of a project that wasn't about the trail at all. Three Rivers hasn't said whether the repaving lands right after the March 31 reopening or later in the build. With final restoration on the Met Council's spring or summer 2028 timeline, finished pavement may come later than the reopening date.

Three Rivers lists the Navarre Municipal Parking Lot at 3401–3465 Lyric Avenue as a trailhead parking spot. Check the closure map before you park there this winter. The Orono closure map shows exactly where the barriers go.

Where the Winter Miles Can Go Instead

With the Dakota Rail closed in two places, these are the nearby options with posted winter guidance:

• Luce Line State Trail, Vicksburg Lane to Stubbs Bay Road. The Minnesota DNR sets this segment aside for hikers, skiers and winter bikers. Snowmobiles aren't allowed on it. West of Stubbs Bay Road, non-motorized users are kept off the groomed snowmobile trail. The only active alert, last updated August 31, 2026, closes the Crow River bridge in Watertown to horses. Nothing on the Orono and Long Lake stretch is affected.
• Baker Park Reserve. Three Rivers lists 9.1 miles of groomed classic and skate-ski trails and 6.3 miles of snowshoe trails. For walkers, the winter trailhead has a multi-use trail and a plowed campground road. The chalet is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. when conditions allow.
• Gale Woods Farm. The trail closes past the farm, but the farm grounds stay open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. It has 4.2 miles of ungroomed snowshoe trails, and snow conditions decide how usable they are. Rooftop solar panels go on the Education Center starting in October, and the buildings stay open during the work. The November calendar includes Farm to Pantry: Herbal Infusions and Broths on Nov. 9, a Needle Felted Pet Class on Nov. 14, and Sheep Shearing and Holiday Gifts on Nov. 21.

Noerenberg Gardens isn't on the list. Three Rivers says it's open May to mid-October and closes its grounds for the winter. Three Rivers' regional trail plowing page is still labeled for winter 2025–26. Until the new schedule is posted, treat plowed and groomed conditions for this season as dependent on the weather.

For more on the area outside construction season, see our Orono and Long Lake neighborhood guide and our look at the first week of August in Long Lake and Orono.

If you live along Lilac Lane, Old Crystal Bay Road, North Shore Drive or Brown Road and are thinking about a move in the next couple of years, the sewer schedule is worth planning around. The team at Ulrich Real Estate Group follows projects like this street by street and can talk through timing with you, at no cost and with no pressure.