13-05-2025
County awarded first $1M toward new shared user trail
May 13—Freeborn County has received its first $1 million grant to go toward the development of the shared user trail planned on the abandoned Union Pacific Railroad line from Albert Lea to Hartland, County Engineer Phil Wacholz shared with the Board of Commissioners last week.
Wacholz said the funds were through the Active Transportation Program through the state and were for the first portion of the trail from Fountain Street to Manchester, except for the crossing at Minnesota Highway 13 — estimated at $3.8 million.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation website states the program provides grants and technical assistance to "make walking, biking and rolling better."
Wacholz said there was not a match requirement for the funds, though he noted subsequent grants will likely require a match.
The money becomes available July 1 and would likely be spent in 2027, he said.
The county also applied for a $1.6 million Local Partnership Program grant for the crossing on Highway 13, but was not awarded the funds for that grant, Wacholz said.
He said that program focuses on projects on the trunk highway system that are not a priority for MnDOT but that are local priorities.
Freeborn County and the city of Albert Lea have been working toward the development of the trail for the last several years and in 2023 approved a joint trail action plan that discusses the development of the property. The plan breaks the trail up into possible development segments that could be completed, as well as possible costs.
Trail enthusiasts and city and county officials say the trail would benefit people walking, and biking and improve access to schools, parks and even the rural areas.
When complete, the trail would run 15 miles from Albert Lea to Manchester and then north to Hartland, where eventual plans call for extending it to New Richland, Waseca and even Waterville, where the Sakatah Singing Hills State Bike Trail is located.
The county board last month approved the name for the trail after soliciting ideas from the Albert Lea Parks Albert Lea Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Freeborn County Trail Association. It will now be known as the Songbird Trail.
Other grants
Wacholz also announced the county had been awarded a Surface Transportation Block Grant for $4.6 million for the reconditioning of County Road 45, which runs from Albert Lea to Clarks Grove.
The last time the county had received funds from this grant was for Bridge Avenue, when the county received $2.6 million. At that time, the city of Albert Lea also applied for and was awarded a sibling grant for almost $4 million for the project.
"This is not an opportunity we get very often," Wacholz said, noting it generally takes place every six to 10 years.
