Bemidji approves Fifth Street NW trail project to improve connectivity

Walkers, cyclists and students traveling along Fifth Street NW in Bemidji will eventually get a safer, separated route on the south side of the street after the City Council approved an eight-foot-wide paved trail between Irvine Avenue NW and the Jefferson Avenue NW roundabout.

The decision adds another piece to a street network that city officials have been rebuilding for years in a city of 14,574 people. Bemidji’s 2026 street renewal work began Monday, May 11, and was estimated to finish in September, weather permitting, part of the city’s long-running pattern of annual reconstruction projects.

The Fifth Street NW trail is designed to improve connectivity in a corridor that links residential areas, local traffic and recreation movement on the north side of the city. By placing the paved trail on the south side of Fifth Street NW, the project gives pedestrians and bicyclists a dedicated path along a stretch that already serves drivers moving between Irvine Avenue NW and the Jefferson Avenue NW roundabout.

The council’s action came during a meeting that included two public hearings on summer construction projects totaling just under one-and-a-half miles of roads. That broader package reflects how Bemidji has continued to layer trail work onto its street renewal schedule, with officials describing the city’s transportation upgrades as part of a nearly two-decade run of recurring projects.

For Beltrami County residents who use Fifth Street NW to reach schools, neighborhoods and other city destinations, the new trail should mean a more direct and more predictable route once construction is complete. It also extends the city’s effort to pair roadway renewal with pedestrian access, rather than treating sidewalks and trails as separate afterthoughts.

Bemidji officials have framed that approach as part of the city’s identity as a north woods community that keeps investing in public infrastructure while it grows. The Fifth Street NW project fits squarely into that pattern: a narrow stretch of pavement, but one that can change how people move through a busy part of town.