Repairs to the flood-damaged Willard Munger State Trail between Duluth and Thomson may begin as soon as Monday.
The first phase of the repairs to damage caused by record flooding in June will focus on stabilizing slopes and preventing further erosion to that approximately 15-mile stretch of the trail, where "slumps," landslides and blown culverts created gaps of up to 30 to 40 feet across.
Early estimates placed repair costs at $15 million to possibly as high as $40 million, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials said in July.
The Duluth-Thomson segment has been closed since June, but the DNR reported in a news release Friday that staff have seen people using the trail anyway, ignoring signs and fencing. People caught using a closed corridor can be fined, said Martin Torgerson, area supervisor for the DNR's Division of Parks and Trails in Moose Lake.
With repair work starting, there is even more need for people to obey the closure and stay off the trail, Torgerson said.
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More than 50 paved miles of the Willard Munger State Trail remain open, from Highway 210 in Thomson south to Hinckley. Also still open is the paved six-mile Alex Laveau Memorial Trail from Carlton through Wrenshall to Minnesota Highway 23.
For trail status updates, go to www.mndnr.gov and search for "Willard Munger State Trail."
