The City of Ottumwa approved the construction of a new pedestrian and bike trail that is set to be completed before the end of the year.
This project, worth over $100,000, aims to build a trail that will keep bikers and pedestrians safer.
It will connect from the intersection of Richmond and Ferry to the trail system in Greater Ottumwa Park.
City Engineer, Phillip Burgmeier, says construction should be swift. “We’d like to start it immediately and have it finished by the end of November,” said Burgmeier.
The Legacy foundation as well as the Iowa DNR’s REAP Grant are funding the project. Wapello County Trails President, Kim Hellige, has been working for years to get this trail approved.
Hellige said, “currently, the area is not pedestrian and bike friendly. With the roundabout especially, you got a lot of traffic coming and going.”
She also said along with not having sidewalks, Hellige reports, seventeen thousand cars use this intersection every day.