HARMONY, MN – The Harmony Economic Development Authority (EDA) is pleased to announce a golden shovel groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction extending the Harmony-Preston Valley state bike trail. The event will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 3, 2024, in Harmony, Minn. A reception will follow the groundbreaking, in the warehouse at Harmony Spirits, 40 1st Ave. NW. Harmony is excited to see the launch of this project which has been 35 years in the making. Harmony Trail Commission volunteers have been working to see this day since 1989 when it began it’s work to connect Harmony to southeast Minnesota’s state trail network.
The new Stateline Trail will extend from Harmony’s southern city limit to the Iowa stateline, with a spur to Niagara Cave in southern Fillmore County. Construction will continue throughout the rest of 2024 and is anticipated to be finished in 2025. The project has received nearly $6 million in federal, state, and local funding including $5.5 million from the State of Minnesota, $235,000 from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, and $15,000 from the Harmony Area Community Foundation.
The Stateline Trail was only made possible with the generous cooperation of landowners along the route, the countless hours of work donated by the Harmony Trail Commission volunteers, Harmony’s state legislators, and the leadership of the Harmony City Council. This trail will connect Niagara Cave, which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Fillmore County, with Harmony’s entertainment and toursim district, and be the first interstate trail to connect the state of Minnesota and Iowa. When Iowa finishes it’s connection to the Stateline Trail, users will be able to ride to Iowa destinations such as Cresco and Decorah, and north to destinations such as Preston, Lanesboro, Rushford via Minnesota’s Bluffland Trails System. Eventually, plans call for this trail network to connect through Chatfield, Minn., to the local and state trails in Rochester to the north and eastward across the Mississippi to La Crosse, Wis. Harmony couldn’t be more excited to take this next big step in creating a regional interstate trail network.
The existing trail between Harmony and Preston was completed in 1998, which goes on to connect to Lanesboro, Minn., and the rest of the current Bluffland Trails system along the Root River. Legislation was secured in 2015 to authorize the new Stateline Trail and a series of state funding was secured in 2018 and 2023 to make construction possible. The Harmony Trail Commission will next set its sights on constructing a trail connection east to the city of Canton, Minn.
A special thank you to the Harmony Area Chamber of Commerce for their assistance in organizing this celebration.
Partial funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). The Trust Fund is a permanent fund constitutionally established by the citizens of Minnesota to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources. Currently 40% of net Minnesota State Lottery proceeds are dedicated to growing the Trust Fund and ensuring future benefits for Minnesota’s environment and natural resources.
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