Neal Smith Trail Resurfacing update

Posted Apr 4, 2010
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Neal Smith Trail, Des Moines, Johnston, Polk City UPDATE: Apr 19th - 1st Phase Neal Smith Trail resurfacing Work will begin on the Neal Smith Trail repairs and improvements on Tuesday, April 20. The trail will be closed from the Saylorville Lake Visitor Center north to NW 90th. All trail users should stay out of construction zones and observe posted signs and fencing. For the most current and up to date closures, please call (515) 276-0433, or check the Saylorville Lake website at www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/Saylorville.

Cracks be Gone! The Neal smith Trail is one of the oldest if not the oldest paved trail in the Central Iowa area and provides a scenic and safe route from Des Moines to Saylorville Lake and onward to Big Creek State Park. Along the trail, you'll see wooded areas, views of the river and lakes as well as open prairie. If you've ridden the trail in the past few years, you'll definitely remember it's state of disrepair. This is one of the most welcome trail resurfacing projects there are!

This information per a discussion with the Army Corps of Engineers on 4/5/10 regarding the flooding and resurfacing of the Neal Smith Trail North of Des Moines. BIKEIOWA is now on the weekly press releases and will post updates as soon as they are available.

Flooding

Parts of the Neal Smith trail has been closed over the course of the last few weeks. As of April 5th, the trail north of 66th ave (Sycamore access) is all open except for the area around the Saylorville Marina. The water on the trail portions South of 66th toward Des Moines is receding and should be off the trail sometime this week. Crews plan to sweep the trail of debris, so watch for slick and muddy spots if you are out there.

Resurfacing

The trail between 66th Ave and Big Creek Dam is scheduled for resurfacing this year. Grimes Asphalt is doing the work and will have the ultimate decision on which part of the trail gets resurfaced first. This is the part managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. South of 66th Ave to Des Moines is managed by the Iowa DNR. Resurfacing highlights

The Trail will be widened 2 feet.
Approximately 16 miles of trail will be resurfaced and widened!
The bridge widths will not be altered.
Several spots where severe erosion occurred will be fixed.
A few spots fixed to include proper drainage
Several trees were removed last year in order to open up up to corridor so the trail paving equipment could get through this year.
4-5 trail sections will be re-aligned to eliminate extreme curves and adhere to AASHTO standards. this includes the S-curve at the top of the Dam hill.
Only portions of the trail will be closed at one time.
The 1st section will be 66th Ave to the top of the Dam
The 2nd section will be from the Visitors Center to the 90th Street Trail-head
Every attempt will be made to close the trail at trail heads and other entry points. You will not be out in the middle of no where and come up to a 'trail closed' sign.
After the trail is resurfaced, it will be opened up as soon as possible after all sign-offs.

Target Dates

Expected start date was April 1st, but a small delay will hold the start date back 1-2 weeks. the delay was regarding some Native American cultural site issues that must have preliminary testing done before any soil disruption begins.
END DATE - End of August 2010. Again, that is 66th Ave north to the Big Creek Dam past Polk City.

Trail Closure / Safety

Trail closure dates will be posted on BIKEIOWA.com
You will see advance notice of future trail closures along the trail too.
Please STAY OFF part of the trail that are closed. We all know this is coming and can find other places to ride for a couple of months
Trail closures will be indicated by the orange snow fence and "Trail Closed" signs
Grimes Asphalt has again indicated that trail traffic while the trail is closed can push back target dates.