Maple Grove Brings In UTV To Analyze Trail Conditions
Maple Grove has more than 135 miles of park trails and some trails are in better condition than others.
Chris LaBounty, the city’s public works and engineering director, says the widely used trails near the government center are more than 20 years old, and they’re beginning to show their age.
“So to start in understanding what our maintenance and replacement needs will be, we have to understand what the condition of the pavement is right now,” LaBounty said.
To help the city better understand the pavement conditions, they’ve called in some help from Golden Valley engineering firm, WSB.
For the last week, a utility task vehicle (UTV) has been making its way through the city, using cameras and sensors to look at every crack, bump and imperfection on Maple Grove’s 135-mile trail system.
“On the top [of the UTV] is the technology that’s collecting the data,” LaBounty said. “So it’s taking pictures similar to like a street view that you might see online. Then it takes that data, and after it collects it, ties it to the actual trail segment. After the fact, it’ll use that to analyze the pavement condition.”
The technology situated on top of the UTV is what is used to analyze the pavement condition.
Saving time
The UTV can do in three weeks what it would take the city’s public works employees an entire summer to accomplish.
In LaBounty’s mind, it’s worth the $35,000 price tag to have the UTV come to the city.
“Historically the city would use just, we call it like the windshield test, or the walking test,” LaBounty said. “So we’d have members of our streets or parks department take a look at the condition and then try to evaluate and rank them against each other.”
The UTV, on the other hand, will use artificial intelligence to come up with ratings for the condition of the pavement.
With that precise data, the city will be able to make a more informed decision when it comes time to replace the aging trails.
“We have limited funding to [replace the trails], so the rating work that we’re doing will make sure that we’re putting those dollars in the areas of the most need, and where we’re able to do the most amount of benefit for the entire community,” LaBounty said.
The data compiled by the UTV will be presented to Maple Grove’s park board and city council later this fall.
A map of the Maple Grove trail system.
Related: Maple Grove’s New Public Works Director Up To Speed on Demands of Growing City
