Submitted Art Ride the River – A Visual Tour of Minot’s River Future will start at the Bark Park on the west side of Minot and end at Roosevelt Park Zoo on the east side of the city.

Friends of the Souris River will lead Ride the River – A Visual Tour of Minot’s River Future on Saturday, April 22.

Starting at 10 a.m. near the Bark Park, participants will ride bike from Minot’s western edge through town to Roosevelt Park. The tour will stop along the way to listen to short presentations on how flood protection will impact the various neighborhoods through Minot.

“With all the flood protection work getting started, Minot’s going to look different a few years from now – especially near the river. We wanted to do something fun, but also educational for anyone curious about how all the parts of the project fit together” said Shannon Straight, a Friends of the Souris organizer. “We’ve also been talking a lot about a plan to open up the ‘now-dead’ loops along the river created by the last flood protection project, so we thought this was a great way to paint a clearer picture of that concept as well. We’ll be stopping at Oak Park to give people a sense of how opening that ‘now-dead’ loop would impact the park.”

The event is family friendly and participants are welcome to join the tour for the whole ride or drop in during the sections that are of most interest to them. Those not able to ride are also welcome to join during the presentation portions of the tour. A rough schedule of stops, presenters and approximate times are as follows:

® 10:00 a.m.: Dakota Bark Park representatives of Ackerman Estvold Engineering will present how flood protection will impact the immediate area in the near-term and the future.

® 10:40 a.m.: Water Treatment Plant (north side of river). Representatives of Ackerman Estvold Engineering will present on flood protection impacts the area in the near-term and future.

® 11:30 a.m.: Oak Park (near compost bins and Fourth Avenue Bridge). Friends of the Souris River will present on how opening the ‘now-dead’ loop that runs around Oak Park would impact the area.

® 12:15 p.m.: Empty lot west of Home Sweet Home. Dan Jonasson with the City of Minot will present on the Phase 1 flood protection plans for the area.

® 12:45 p.m.: Third Street Viaduct Underpass (north and east side of the river). Friends of the Souris will present on flood protection impacts to northeast Minot and Ben’s Tavern neighborhoods.

® 1:15 p.m.: Roosevelt Park. Becky Dewitz, Roosevelt Park Zoo director, will present on future impacts and plans for the zoo.

Riders are encouraged to make sure their bikes are in good working order before the Saturday morning ride and wear a helmet. At the end, trucks and trailers will be available for those wanting a ride back to the Bark Park. It is expected that many will continue the ride to downtown Minot where live music and events surrounding National Record Store Day will be taking place on Main Street.