As we await the release of the Park Board’s updated Cedar-Isles Master Plan this summer, larger questions linger: What is the rush for this plan? What is the cost of this plan? Shouldn’t we wait and see how the water table is impacted by the SWLRT construction and earth movement and how future visitors from concurrent development projects actually engage with the park?
There is no other city in the world that offers a regional park and urban lake experience like Minneapolis. Google best beaches in Minneapolis—and Cedar Lake beaches are at the very top. They attract visitors and recreators from all parts of the metro area—coming by bike, foot, car, and yes, someday, light rail.
Like the other lakes in the Chain of Lakes, Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles have unique identities that make them appealing to visitors of all ages and backgrounds from across the metro area. There is no other lake in the Twin Cities that gives you the restorative experience of getting lost in the woods while being in the heart of the city like Cedar Lake and the Burnham Woods.
When the bike and pedestrian path in the Kenilworth Corridor is put back in place, bikers and joggers will now find views not only of Cedar Lake, but the Channel and Lake of the Isles due to the deforestation of the corridor. In the summer, Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles are already full—the beaches, bike racks, boat rentals are already at the limit for usage. While the Park Board has yet to release land use goals for the master plan, we do know that the carrying capacity of the lakes cannot be changed. The existing infrastructure to support the large number of recreators is already difficult for the Park Board to maintain. For example, the public bathroom at Cedar Lake South Beach is open only four months a year despite year-round usage of the lake and trails.
Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles are critical habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife. As the city and region grow over the next several decades, we need a balanced approach that offers the continued opportunity to enjoy and engage with our regional park while preserving and more importantly, improving, the water quality of the lakes, and fostering healthy ecological systems. Building a boardwalk or footpath to nowhere on the southwest shore of Cedar Lake would disrupt vital fish and bird habitat. It’s devastating that Kenilworth Channel construction over the past two years eliminated the muskrat population in the same area.
As one attendee at the Kenwood Community Center meeting on April 30 (cosponsored by CIDNA and the Park Board) rightfully stated, there’s no point in building a viewing platform of the lake if it means destroying the lake and habitat.
In March, CIDNA passed a resolution demanding that protecting the water quality of Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles be the very top priority of any future plans. The lakes need to be swimmable and fishable for generations to come.
It is promising that the Park Board, in addition to recently establishing water quality goals for the plan after feedback from the community, has stated publicly that elements of the proposed regional plan, including a boardwalk, are now possibly off the table. But we have no way to know for certain as we sit in the waiting room to find out what is and is not in the final plan.
At this point, we are simply asking for the Park Board to slow down and take in the feedback provided by hundreds of residents, recreators and those that enjoy the Chain of Lakes. We already have a world-class parks system, why break what is not broken?
