The Ames City Council heard a presentation on plans to connectbike trails from Ames to Story County trails.
“We have pretty robust central Iowa trail work,” said Mike Cox, director of the Story County Conservation Board.
Cox spoke on the general benefits trails have on health and the economy.
Cox and Rick Sanders, Story County supervisor, spoke to the council about connecting trails at three points in Ames: by Ada Hayden Park, the ISU Research Park and near the Highway 30 and 35 exits.
The goal is to connect the High Trestle and the Heart of Iowa bike trails to bike trails in Ames.
Bike trails aren’t cheap. Cox is currently looking at an estimate of $400,000 per paved bike trail mile. The funding for the first phase of three for the Research Park trail has been committed, Cox said.
The trail from the Research Park would connect to R-38 through a contract with Iowa State University.
“We know we’ll be able to get folks below Highway 30,” Cox said.
All of the proposed trails are paved trails, not gravel trails.
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