Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 04/12/2018

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tt tor t .�. not be `locked in' to an auto -centric environment as the only means to access parks and destinations, but rather, view the opportunity when thinking about parks and the public realm to creating a community that invites bicycling and pedestrians, to experience the city via greenways that connect neighborhoods, amenities and destinations. Healthy, thriving cities invariably contain significant civic components that celebrate the "publicness" of place —yielding measurable returns; economic, environmental, and social —this Comprehensive Plan highlights the investments in the Park, Trail, and Recreation and Open Space system that will pay dividends for generations to come. 2030 Plan Accomplishments While the question might be rhetorical in nature, it is asked, 'Why do a Comprehensive Plan?' One answer is, because the Comprehensive Plan is so well vetted by policy makers and the community's engagement and participation —only true priorities make it into the Plan, and so those goals and strategies identified, become the City's work plan and focus for the coming years. The following are a sampling of goals and strategies from the Parks, Recreation, Trails and Open Space Chapter of the 2030 Plan that have been realized from the community's plan: • `Establish a regional trail along the Mississippi River' Status: The City of Ramsey has completed construction of the Mississippi River Trail from Ding's Island in the City of Anoka to city limits at the border with Elk River. • `Improve coordination ofpark and trail planning within City and adjacent communities' Status: Ramsey's Council meets with neighboring Councils regularly, which has resulted in collaboration on the above trail project with the City of Anoka. • `Design for connectivity with local and regional parks' Status: The concept for the Circle of Ramsey emerged to address this goal with much of the greenway that encircles the community, now in place today. • `Develop a Trott Brook Trail Corridor' Status: A quarter mile long boardwalk that will be constructed in the Spring of 2018, will complete the Trott Brook Trail between Variolite Street and Nowthen Boulevard. • `Explore providing pedestrian access from the Mississippi River to the north side of Highway 10' Status: The skyway over Veteran's Drive was completed with the 2012 construction of the Northstar Rail Station. More recently a private landowner granted the `touchdown' location (valued at $100,000) for the proposed pedestrian bridge referred to as the Mississippi City of Ramsey 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space Chapter Page 3 of 30