A view of the Seventh Street Improvement Arches from the north side. The Seventh Street Improvement Arches are a double- arched masonry highway bridge that formerly spanned the St The asphalt trail is the Bruce Vento Regional Trail.

This sign, posted on Phalen Boulevard near Westminster Junction, describes the history of the Railroad Island and Swede Hollow neighborhoods.

The Bruce Vento Regional Trail is a rail trail in the cities of Maplewood and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Rail trail is a term for a Trail that makes use of a railroad right-of-way (ROW. Maplewood, incorporated in 1957 is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers

The trail occupies an abandoned Burlington Northern Railroad corridor and intersects with the Gateway State Trail in Maplewood before and continues just east of Lake Phalen in Saint Paul. The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States -based Railroad company operating between 1970 and 1996 The Gateway State Trail is an multiple use Rail trail in Minnesota. Lake Phalen is an urban Lake located in Saint Paul Minnesota. South of the lake, it continues along Phalen Boulevard and through Swede Hollow to its terminus near Seventh Street. Another spur off of Phalen Boulevard continues west, going over a long bridge that crosses very active railroad tracks, and terminates at Interstate 35E. Interstate 35E (I-35E is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Saint Paul.

The trail is approximately 6. 2 miles long from its northern end to the southern terminus near Seventh Street. The extension along Phalen Boulevard is 1. 3 miles. Most of the trail was built in the late 1990s. The section along Phalen Boulevard was paved in late 2005.

The trail is through a corridor and is mostly off the road. In some places it goes through residential neighborhoods. There are some nice views of Phalen Lake through the trees. The section in Swede Hollow is particularly scenic where it runs through a ravine. Swede Hollow was a neighborhood of Saint Paul Minnesota. It was one of a large group of neighborhoods collectively known as the East Side, lying just to the east The south end of the trail features the Seventh Street Improvement Arches. The Seventh Street Improvement Arches are a double- arched masonry highway bridge that formerly spanned the St This is a historic bridge built to carry the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad underneath Seventh Street. The Phalen Boulevard extension goes through more industrial and office areas, but at the top of the bridge over Westminster Junction, there is a historical exhibit with descriptions of how the railroads developed along with the city.

The trail is named for U. S. Representative Bruce Vento. Bruce Frank Vento ( October 7, 1940 – October 10, 2000) American politician was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member

This former Burlington Northern Railroad corridor was formerly used by the Northern Pacific Railway and was originally built as the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad. The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the north-central region of the United States. The St Paul and Duluth Railroad was reorganized from the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad in the 1870s

References

• Minnesota Inline Skate Club - Bruce Vento Regional Trail
• Ramsey County Parks and Recreation: Hiking and Biking Trail Information