The Dinkytown Greenway is the newest addition to the Twin Cities' expansive list of trails, quietly opening in July 2013. It goes directly under the University of Minnesota's famous Dinkytown neighborhood, home of the place that Bob Dylan started playing music, according to your dad every time he talks about his college years. It also connects the U's Transit(andbike)way to the West River Parkway.
Accessibility: 4 out of 10. This was a huge surprise for me, considering you have a new trail located in a very accessible, centralized part of the Twin Cities, but it is actually kinda difficult to get on this Greenway in the first place. You have only three entrances to the trail: Bridge No. 9 in the west (which connects to West River Parkway), a connection to 5th St. in the middle, and when the trail meets with 6th street in the east (which connects to the transitway). Not a lot of options if you need to get on that trail, honestly.
However, there is also a road starting very close to the Stone Arch Bridge, just south of Main Street, that takes you under I-35, next to some boxcars, and right to the trail itself. That being said, I'm not sure if this route is actually legal to take, so
Smoothness: 10 out of 10. This is the smoothest thing I've felt since they let me touch the 1500 thread count bedsheets at JCPenny. No cracks, no holes, maybe one storm drain. It makes sense, of course, considering this is probably the newest bike trail in the city, but still. So nice.
Scenery: 5 out of 10. This trail is a "rail to trail" conversion, which means that it takes a (semi-)abandoned railbed and turns it into a nice-ass bike trail. In this specific case, that means building it basically underground, in a valley in the shadow of Dinkytown. And, unfortunately, when you're in a railbed with everything else 20 feet above your head, there's not a lot of scenery to be noticed, with the exception of these three areas:
-TCF Bank Stadium. In the northeastern part of the path, the trail takes you past both the modern engineering buildings just built by the University and, for you football fans out there, TCF Bank Stadium. It's a pretty cool sight.
-Certain glimpses of Dinkytown. HEY LOOK THERE'S ANNIE'S PARLOUR. AND THAT OLD BRIDGE WITH THE GOLD "M" ON IT. I mean, that's pretty much all you can see from down in the Greenway, but hey, it looks pretty nice at night.
-Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge #9. I'm not sure if this is technically under the jurisdiction of the Greenway itself, but it's closer to it than any other bike trail, so let's count it. Point is, it has a fantastic view of the river, the I-35 Bridge, and the gorgeous Minneapolis skyline. If the Dinkytown Greenway gets more people on that bridge to see the view, then it's already proven its worth.
Other than that, yeah, you're in a trench in the ground. Not too much scenery down there in the depths.
Fun: 3 out of 10. It is a pure, unadulterated commuting trail. It is straight, flat, and gets you where you want to go as fast as you possibly can. I think there are three turns in the whole thing. "Fun" is not in its vocabulary, which is fine, because it's not that kind of trail. It's not something you absolutely want to ride, but it's something you need to ride to get to the place that you absolutely want to ride. It's just trying to help, without needing any of the glory. It's the John Stockton of bike trails.
Other information:
-At night, this trail is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the view from Bridge No. 9 is absolutely beautiful, with downtown lit up and the I-35 Bridge shrouded in blue. It's also pleasantly well-lit. BUT, there are some specific dark spots where you think to yourself, "Oh, yeah, I could definitely get mugged there," and it kinda ruins the ride.
-It is a very, very quiet ride. Not many people seem to know about the Greenway itself just yet.
-This is probably going to be the lowest reviewed trail on here for a while. However, in the past year or so when I had to get home from work late on Friday nights, it was either take this route or go on the "frat rows" of University Avenue. Now, there's plenty of untrue stereotypes about college students that I don't want to continue, but I think even they can agree that drunken college students are the worst people on the planet. Therefore, this trail is an absolute godsend.
Overall: 4.8 out of 10. It was meant to connect the UMN transitway to the Railroad #9 Bridge, and by god it does that part pretty well. There's some room for improvement, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment