Water recently returned to Kenilworth Channel between the Burnham Road Bridge and Cedar Lake! Work this fall and early winter removed the old wood channel walls and replaced them with a naturalized shoreline featuring stone, soil and plants.
Additional planting and minor areas of stabilization are planned next spring, but the channel will remain open, including for winter recreation when ice is thick enough to safely allow it.
The City of Minneapolis replaced an 80-year-old section of sanitary sewer line near the channel while it was dewatered in the fall. Please visit the Park Lane Sanitary Sewer Improvement project page for more details on that effort.
Throughout the design process and during construction, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board coordinated efforts to preserve as much of the existing tree canopy as possible. This coordination will result in many trees being preserved, however, some tree removal is inevitable. An MPRB tree preservation expert evaluates any trees impacted by these public infrastructure projects to determine if they need to be removed to maintain a safe recreation environment when the channel reopens. At least one tree will be planted for every tree lost during construction.