Construction on three phases expected to take two years
A network of trails in Eastern Iowa always lacked a link that would connect Solon and Ely and, as a result, tie together more than 200 miles of trails from the area’s major cities of Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Waterloo.
The missing link connection got a boost in January 2016 when the Johnson County Conservation Board received a federal grant of $450,000 through the Iowa Transportation Commission to complete the 2.6-mile second phase of the effort to fill a 6-mile gap between the two small towns.
Phase one includes 2 miles of trail north from Solon to Polk Avenue, while phase two runs from where the trail system in Linn County ends at Seven Sisters Road south to Ely Road. The third phase fills in the gap between the two.
WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE
Construction began this month on phases one and two, with clearing and grubbing completed.
The contractor, Peterson Contractors of Reinbeck, is first working to remove old bridge pilings and construct three new bridges over creeks.