Land acquisition for the Walnut Creek Regional Park will complete a park corridor along Little Walnut Creek that will eventually link western trails to a main trail that will run through the park.

Urbandale’s capital improvements program committee met for the first time Tuesday to discuss projects. Parks and Recreational Director Jan Herke presented a plan purchase 13.8 acres for Walnut Creek Regional Park, located at 153rd Street and Horton Avenue.

The 200-acre Walnut Creek Regional Park is a priority for development, Herke said. The city expects to buy the land in 2014 at a projected cost of $96,000.

A bid will go out for the construction of the Bob Layton Trail, a mile-long trail that will run north to south through the regional park. Cost of the project is $1.16 million. The trail will connect to others that link to neighborhoods and other trails, Herke said.

The first land acquisition for the park was in 2001. The piece of land proposed for procurement in 2014 is important for the connection to the trail systems, Herke said.

“Anytime you can acquire park land contiguous with the current park, especially at this size of a park, it’s a benefit to the park system,” she said.

CIP committee member Bridget Montgomery agreed with the city’s scheduled project. If it will make the park more complete, she said, she supports it.

“I think it’s developing into a gem,” she said.

Montgomery lives near the regional park and goes there often with her children. She said it has the potential to be an asset to the metro area.

The park and its trails provide a great opportunity to get children in nature, Herke said.

“Not many people know about the park,” she said. “Once you start getting parking lots and access to it, it will just blossom.”

Urbandale currently has 38 miles of trails. The Parks and Recreation Department has a budget of $75,000 per year to address ongoing maintenance within the trail system. Staff can address trail needs a mile at a time every year.

Other items discussed by the committee were replacement of firetrucks, an aquatic center, an animal shelter, a traffic signal preemption, which allows lights to be interrupted by a device to help emergency vehicles, and an Urbandale public arts funding initiative.

At the CIP committee’s next meeting, streets, bridges, sidewalks, storm sewers, street lighting and traffic signals will be discussed.