Lakewalk reopens in Canal Park after yearlong shoreline repairs

Pedestrians are back on the Lakewalk in Canal Park after more than a year of closures tied to shoreline safety work, restoring access to one of Duluth’s most visible public spaces and one of its busiest tourism corridors.

The reopening puts people back on a stretch that matters well beyond a scenic stroll. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the project was built to strengthen the shoreline against Lake Superior’s waves and winds, using a concrete tee-wall armored by stone revetment to help prevent the kind of storm damage that has hit the waterfront before. The work covered about 200 feet of pedestrian walkway and was designed to connect the City of Duluth’s Lake Walk structure to the Duluth Ship Canal North Pier.

The Corps awarded the $3.15 million contract to Northern Interstate Construction of South Range, Wisconsin, with funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Construction was scheduled from May 2025 through November 2025, with final landscaping and grading extending into spring 2026.

That timing matters for Canal Park businesses and for the city’s visitor economy. The Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center stayed open during construction, and the North Pier remained accessible to the public even as adjacent grounds were restricted. The Corps says more than 500,000 visitors stop at the visitor center each year, and it estimates about 1.5 million pedestrians use the Duluth Ship Canal North and South Pier and Aerial Lift Bridge area annually.

The upgrade also adds practical access improvements. New ramps make it easier for wheelchair users, families with strollers and cyclists to move through the area, turning the Lakewalk into a more usable route for residents as well as visitors. Locals returning to the waterfront described the updated landscaping and cleaner layout as making the area feel more polished and more welcoming.

The reopening is not fully finished. The grassy areas in front of the Maritime Center will remain closed for another six to eight weeks while sod settles, leaving one more phase before the shoreline work is complete. For Canal Park, the most disruptive part of the project is over, but the larger question remains whether the new protection work will hold against the lake conditions that forced the closure in the first place.