St. Cloud Lands $6.4M to Stitch Downtown, SCSU and the Riverfront Together

St. Cloud is moving ahead on a pair of projects meant to physically stitch downtown, St. Cloud State University and the Mississippi River together, backed by $6.4 million in state bonding money the city has spent years trying to secure. The St. Cloud City Council has cleared the way for design work to begin on a reconstructed 5th Avenue South corridor and a new riverfront linear park, with construction expected to start in late 2027 and wrap up in 2028.

According to KNSI, the two projects carry a combined price tag of $13.1 million. The 5th Avenue South Campus and Downtown Connection covers the stretch between Division Street and University Drive, and separately runs from Division Street past the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center down to Ramsey Place, according to WJON. The Mississippi Riverwalk Connection, meanwhile, targets a shoreline section currently dominated by roadways and would convert it into a linear park with walking, biking and recreation space.

Where the Money Comes From

State bonding covers roughly half of each project's cost: $3.4 million toward the 5th Avenue South work and $3 million toward the Riverwalk, per figures reported by WJON in July. The remaining local share, which St. Cloud must match, will be funded through transportation local sales tax, utility revenue, general obligation bonds and community partnership money. The Minnesota Legislature approved the $6.4 million package in May, part of a broader funding effort championed by then-Representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL-St. Cloud), who secured $12.4 million across four central Minnesota infrastructure projects on the final day of his legislative term, according to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

That package was folded into Governor Tim Walz's $1.2 billion statewide bonding bill, which delivered nearly $26 million in total infrastructure funding across Stearns County, Cold Spring and St. Cloud when he ceremonially signed it in June, according to KNSI. The 2026 package capped off more than $8 billion in Minnesota infrastructure investments over an eight-year stretch. St. Cloud had applied for state bonding dollars for downtown revitalization projects before without success, only securing approval this legislative session.

A Long-Delayed Corridor Gets a Push Forward

City officials describe 5th Avenue South as the city's top bonding priority, and securing state money is expected to accelerate the corridor's reconstruction by roughly two years — it was originally slated for work in 2029 under the city's Capital Improvement Plan, according to city council proceedings from October 2025. The rebuilt street will include a reworked configuration with new bike lanes, new traffic lanes, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, lighting, streetscaping, wayfinding signs and street resurfacing. Crews will also remove ash trees infected with emerald ash borer, and 5th Avenue North will be narrowed as part of the plan.

Preliminary field work is already underway. The city instituted temporary lane shifts along 5th Avenue South from Division Street to 9th Street South in late August to perform required soil borings ahead of formal design. St. Cloud State University is waiting for the corridor plan to develop before finalizing its own campus changes, and the university has delayed demolition of several aging buildings in the meantime.

Turning a Roadway-Heavy Shoreline Into a Park

The Riverwalk project would replace a deteriorated retaining wall along 5th Avenue that was already cataloged in the city's hazard mitigation plan, addressing a structural vulnerability along the riverfront alongside the scenic upgrades. Plans call for a multi-use off-road trail, shoreline restoration, vegetated buffers and limited on-street parking, envisioning improved water access, educational programming, functional art and restored natural areas.

The new stretch would create a continuous river route linking St. Cloud Hospital, downtown and SCSU, and would connect to the city's existing 5.1-mile Beaver Island Trail along the west bank of the Mississippi, which already links SCSU to River Bluffs Regional Park, according to Stearns County. That trail runs along a historic 1880s railroad corridor. City officials expect the Riverwalk to support tourism, recreation and housing.

Betting on Economic Development, Not Just Streets

St. Cloud is framing both projects as economic development spending rather than simple street work. Officials have said better public space can reduce risk for private investors, and both projects are expected to support vacant storefront redevelopment, historic building rehabilitation, restaurants and retail along 5th Avenue South.

The infrastructure push arrives alongside other efforts already underway in the corridor. In early 2025, the Downtown St. Cloud Alliance launched a voluntary business-funded initiative contracting with national firm Block by Block to deploy safety and cleanliness ambassadors along the 5th Avenue and West St. Germain corridors, according to WJON. That voluntary model emerged after a mandatory business improvement district vote failed in 2024. St. Cloud will separately lead construction on the 322nd Street regional corridor improvements project, for which the city and Stearns County received $3 million in partial funding.

St. Cloud plans to take public input on the design of both the 5th Avenue South and Riverwalk projects through 2026 and 2027, giving residents and business owners a window to weigh in before construction begins.