Photo by Deb Gau The city of Marshall will be seeking grant funds to make updates to parts of city trails. One trail project would include updates to the pedestrian bridge over the Redwood River near Pleasant Avenue and Justice Park.

MARSHALL — Plenty of cyclists and pedestrians use Marshall’s trail system. But not all of the trails are in good shape right now, said Marshall Public Works Director Jason Anderson.

“There’s a lot of trail infrastructure that needs work,” Anderson said.

At Tuesday’s Marshall City Council meeting, Anderson said the city is seeking grant funding to help with two separate local trail projects. One project would rebuild part of an asphalt trail at Justice Park, and replace a footbridge over the Redwood River at the park. The other project would rebuild another segment of asphalt trail, this one running along Country Club Drive.

If the city receives either of the grants, the funding would be for 2028, Anderson said.

Anderson said the city planned to apply for Transportation Alternatives grants from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to help fund the projects.

“This is an annual program grant that (MnDOT) District 8 administers,” Anderson said. “City staff worked together with (Parks and Recreation Superintendent) Preston Stensrud and the parks team to determine some good candidate projects to apply for funds.”

TA grants are geared toward projects like pedestrian and bike paths, Safe Routes To School projects, and more. In 2022, Marshall used TA grant funding to help install flashing crossing beacons near schools.

If Marshall receives either of the grants, they would require a 20% local match.

The Justice Park project would replace what is currently Marshall’s oldest pedestrian bridge, city staff said. The bridge connects the neighborhood near Pleasant Avenue with Justice Park. In addition, about 1,200 feet of asphalt trail in the park would be replaced with concrete.

If the city is awarded a grant for the Justice Park project, the estimated cost of the local match would be $103,576. The city would also provide about $82,000 in engineering services for the project.

“We would propose to cover the local end with Municipal State Aid dollars, if allowed to,” Anderson said.

The Country Club Drive project would replace about 1,300 feet of off-street asphalt trail between Cheryl Avenue and Travis Road with concrete trail.

“It’s in pretty poor condition, and also has some drainage issues that we would like to improve,” Anderson said. “There’s quite a few areas where water sits and ponds.”

If the city is awarded a grant for the project, it would have an estimated local match of $70,936. City engineering services for the project would also come to about $57,000. Anderson said staff were not recommending special assessments for the driveway cuts along the Country Club Drive portion of trail.

Council members addressed the proposed grant applications in four separate votes. In the first two votes, the council approved resolutions to be the sponsoring agency for the Justice Park project, and taking responsibility for its operation and maintenance.

Similar resolutions were also passed for the Country Club Drive trail project.