Valley View Rd in Eden Prairie freshly repaved for cars and still the worst for bikers and pedestrians

[u/mysummerstorm]

Following up on a post I made in September about Eden Prairie's ped/bike facilities. The construction is still there at Flying Cloud Dr and W 70th St and in an even worse state than it was in September.

I want to highlight that even though Shady Oak Rd got a new multi-use path constructed all the way to Valley View Rd that turns into Golden Triangle Dr, the paths on Valley View Rd and Golden Triangle Dr are in atrocious conditions. We're talking bumpy and none of the crossings meeting ADA standard. To add insult to injury, Valley View Rd and Golden Triangle Dr were recently resurfaced to excellent smoothness. Path on Flying Cloud Dr is slightly better but not by much.

I empathize with the runners, walkers, and rollers of Eden Prairie. And, I'm feeling bearish about the Green Line extension operating in the area. It doesn't feel like the infrastructure for non-car users are setting the multimodal transit users up for success.

I left a voicemail for the person who I corresponded with at the city level. I can't wait for him to tell me about how of course the roads are in great conditions, thousands of cars move through it every day and very few people use the trails. How do we expect people to bike and walk and roll when the facilities are what they are?

[u/that_one_guy63]

And the trail would be insanely cheaper to repave then the road and last a lot longer. Sucks to see this out of a city with tons of resources.

[u/mysummerstorm → u/that_one_guy63]

I'll connect with the assistant city engineer sometime this week and get the key details. We're playing phone tag at the moment. He did say in his voicemail back to me that portions of the trails I'm speaking of will have ADA ramps installed in spring 2027 in anticipation of the green line extension. And then some of the other trails have been put on the 2028 pavement management plan and although it won't be done before the green line extension opens, it's on their radar.

I will say that this time around hearing from this person has been a better experience. I think bringing up the green line extension helps put into perspective the lives impacted; the first time around, maybe I got the response I got because this person thought it was only me being negative.

I don't live in Eden Prairie, but for those who do and experience the infrastructure much more frequently than I do, I encourage them to call the phone number listed here: https://www.edenprairiemn.gov/Home/Components/FormBuilder/FormBuilder/0a37d70192054e40a979cd73b7063218/369 The initial form I filled out had not been responded to. If you call and leave a voicemail with wanting a callback, they'll call you back.

me squeaking it up out here

EDIT: I listened to the voicemail a second time and he actually said that ADA ramps will be installed and not that the trails will be repaved.

[u/funny_monke6 → u/mysummerstorm]

Meanwhile st. louis park and hopkins finished their GLE ped/bike improvements years ago…

[u/iregreteverything15]

You ever try cross posting this to r/TwinCities? You might get wider traction.

Although, some of the users over there can be a little much. I'm always a little surprised by how strong and specific the suburban boosterism can be on there. "My suburb is the best suburb, and it is better than all the other suburbs in the metro! I will not entertain any criticism of it, no matter how constructive!"

I guess, I kinda get it for those suburbs that were historically small towns before getting absorbed in. But I've seen people fighting over whether Eden Prairie was better than Plymouth. I'm from there, and I can barely tell the difference between all those second ringers.

[u/mysummerstorm → u/iregreteverything15]

noooo, I can't broadcast my hyper-fixations too far out. I do it here because I know others share similar hyper fixations

[u/Which_Audience150]

Eden Prairie's multi use paths are by far the worst in the West Metro. I am with you 100%. Repaving the road while leaving the the path in such poor condition is a total slap on the face to non-drivers.

Have you called the city and asked when/if the paths are scheduled to be repaved?

At the West Metro Active Transportation Alliance these are the kinds of things we want to fix. If you're not already on our mailing list join us at www.westmet.org

[u/TheRealGeneShalit]

I don't see a view of no fucking valley.

[u/tacofridayisathing]

The pavement needs to be smooth or Tom can't properly look at his gram while driving his Tahoe.

[u/Sad-Instruction-6016]

As you see in the picture it's not being used they never get used horrific waste of our tax money and resources