Connecting the Trails
Will $1.03 million help?

Posted May 13, 2004
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Can you imagine TWO 100-plus-mile trails loops in the Des Moines area and surrounding counties! Turning a Vision into Reality.

By BOB MODERSOHN REGISTER STAFF WRITER 05/13/2004

$1.03 million may help link patch work of paths

Central Iowa's recreational trails are a mixed blessing for many bicyclists. Sure, they offer miles and miles of asphalt, concrete or crushed rock paths for everyone from fitness fans to families. But the trails are a patchwork of disconnected stretches across the region. Many paths require a short drive to the trail head, unless you're willing to brave the roads (not always easy with children in tow). On some, just when you're getting into a groove, you hit a dead end. There's good news ahead. Many of those gaps may be filled soon. The Polk, Story, Boone and Dallas County Conservation Boards have received major federal grant money early this spring to help connect the segments. The foundation, along with many partners, is realizing a long-term vision of creating two 100-plus-mile trail loops centered in the Des Moines metro area. That means trail riders will be able to pedal from Woodward east to Marshalltown; from Ankeny to Slater; from Clive to downtown Des Moines. The $1.03 million in federal money (which requires 20 percent matching public and private funds) will be used for acquisition, engineering and some minimal development of the portion between Ankeny and Woodward. The Polk County Conservation Board and the city of Ankeny are working on connecting Ankeny to the Neal Smith - more commonly called the Saylorville - Trail.

Click to view larger map On paper, the two broad loops look a bit like eyeglass frames, with the Saylorville Trail as the nose bridge. A map of central Iowa trails showing completed, planned and potential stretches reveals the progress of the project. Only a few planned trail areas (shown in red on the accompanying map) remain to complete the loops. The eastern trail loop is created by joining the Saylorville Trail to the Heart of Iowa, the Chichaqua Valley and the Four-Mile Creek Trail. The western loop takes the Saylorville Trail to the Raccoon River Valley and then east (trail as yet unnamed) to the Saylorville Trail. "It has significance since most regional trails are linear, and you must go out and back," said Lisa Hein, the Heritage Foundation's program and planning director, and its "trails guru." "The loops create opportunities for longer trips, which will support increased tourism activities and links to more communities," Hein said.

"I'm not sure how many other communites can boast this type of looped system" ~ Lisa Hein (Iowa Heritage Foundation's planning director)

As more stretches of trails are completed, more people can hop on them from their homes. "Bring trails to within a very few short minutes of users," said Don McLaughlin, park development manager for Des Moines, and they will use them. In the city, for example, the Riverpoint Trail awaits authorization by the Iowa Department of Transportation. It would link downtown to the mega-popular Gray's Lake area and its Kruidenier Trail. It is part of a four- to five-mile proposed trail tying the Gray's Lake loop to the new Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway area and back through downtown to the Riverwalk stretch. It may be finished in less than two years. The federal grant money was awarded on a competitive basis through the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Association and the Central Iowa Regional Transportation Planning Alliance. Federal dollars are the only source of trail funding. State cash hasn't been available since 2001. "We still have to find another $3 million for the half-mile-long Des Moines River bridge replacement and about $3.5 million for surfacing, trail heads/parking, signage, etc., for the 25 miles from Ankeny to Woodward," Hein said.