Mudslides have forced the closing of both Highway 13 in Mendota from 2nd  Street and Lexington Avenue, and the closing of the Big Rivers Regional Trail from the Lilydale Trailhead to Mendota at Highway 13.
Highway 13 is in danger of coming down on the trail; mud certainly has. Current expectation is that the closure will last through June 17 for the highway. No ETA on the reopening of the trail has been provided.
Motorists are being advised to use Highway 110 or 35E as alternates. Generally, the best alternate for the Big Rivers Trail in that corridor is Highway 13 (oops). There are a variety of other routes through the area — but it depends on if you’re up on the top side of the bluff to start, or if you’ve crossed at the 35E bike bridge or come via Lilydale Road. Either of these routes leaves you a very limited group of options to get to the same end point as the trail does. Highway 13 down to Victoria and the Victoria Curve is one potential approach to get to Mendota, should you wish to do so. Dodd Road to Mendota Heights Road is a reasonable route to the southern Big Rivers Trailhead, although Dodd may be higher speed than many Big Rivers aficionados prefer.
In general: You may wish to consider riding/skating/running elsewhere for a bit.
UPDATE: Fellow Streets.mn board member and St. Paul Bicycle Coordinator Reuben Collins has posted this picture of the mudslide to Twitter. Don’t think you’ll dodge the barricade and just ride through. You won’t.
This is what the Big Rivers Regional Trail mudslide looks like. pic.twitter.com/bVHG9YJawW
— Reuben Collins (@reubencollins) June 11, 2014
