Cottage Grove is updating a critical part of its past.
The 19th century Military Road will be swept aside by the $14 million Ravine Parkway project, modernizing the northeast part of the city.
The current Ravine Parkway begins at U.S. 61 and swoops north and east past county and city government buildings, ending at 85th Street. But ultimately it will be part of a five-mile boulevard that will hug the north and east sides of the city.
“Ravine Parkway really should create an experience,” said city engineer Jennifer Levitt. “This road is not just for utilitarian use, but it’s an amenity.”
The city council recently approved spending $9.2 million toward completing the northern part of the project.
Part of the undulating parkway, lined with walkways and pedestrian bridges, will obliterate the road it replaces — Military Road.
In the 1850s, the road was deemed a military necessity — hence the name — so troops in horse-drawn wagons could travel between Point Douglas at the southern tip of Washington County and Fort Ripley near Brainerd.
That soldiers’ trail evolved into a four-lane road for cars, and remained a diagonal slash across city maps.
In the early 2000s, homebuilders began to flock to the northeast part of the city. To service the new homes, the city needed a roadway that fit modern needs — including the need for beauty.
“They did not want more of the traditional grid system,” Levitt said.
The $9.2 million approved by the council will cover two segments of the project:
- This year, construction of the roadway between Keats and Jamaica avenues.
- In 2019, rebuilding 65th Street between Hinton and Innsdale avenues.
Later, the two projects will be connected between Innsdale and Jamaica, for a projected cost of $4.4 million.
Ultimately, the roadway will cross Keats Avenue, turn south and hook up with the existing Ravine Parkway south of 80th Street by City Hall.
There are no cost projections for that part of the project, and no timetable. Engineer Levitt explained that the roads will be built only when there is demand — and that depends on when developers build new neighborhoods on the east side of Keats Avenue.
Ravine Parkway will slice Military Road in half. The northwestern fragment of Military Road will be maintained as a dead-end roadway, and the southeastern half will be converted into a trail.
Along the remnants of Military Road, she said, the city will install historical markers.