On Thursday, with both social distancing and outdoor recreation in mind, St. Paul and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will add four new miles of temporary bicycle and pedestrian paths, which now run along both sides of the Mississippi River.

Mississippi River Boulevard in St. Paul and East River Road in Minneapolis will temporarily close a lane apiece to all vehicle traffic to open up the streets to more walkers and cyclists.

The board will close the southbound traffic lane along a 4-mile stretch of Mississippi River Boulevard and East River Road from Ford Parkway to Franklin Avenue.

The northbound lane will remain open for one-way vehicle traffic only. St. Paul owns and maintains Mississippi River Boulevard from Minnesota 5 to Emerald Street SE, where it becomes East River Parkway, which is managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

The Minneapolis Parks Board closed a lane along East River Parkway from Emerald to Franklin Avenue on Tuesday morning.

On the western side of the Mississippi River, the Minneapolis Parks Board has restricted a lane of West River Parkway for the past several weeks from 46th Avenue South to 11th Avenue South. That closure is expected to run through May 3.