From Des Moines Parks July 15th 2014:
All Des Moines trails are now open. The only remaining closure is on Neal Smith Trail along Birdland Drive. Use Birdland as a detour.
The Waveland Trail Gap started on July 15th. More to come.
Grants were applied for fixing the Jackson Street Bridge
The guard rails under the bridge at 63rd and Grand will be fabricated within 5-8 weeks. They are still waiting on some approvals. Until then, please be careful!
Des Moines City Council voted unanimously that Hubbell Avenue be returned from the 3-lane configuration back to 4 lanes. (BIKEIOWA is researching more on the reasons...)
From BIKEIOWA:
Neal Smith is also still closed by the Marina near Polk City too. You can detour around the highway (nice shoulder)
From Polk County:
- Messy Month - With all the rain and flooding it has been touch to keep up with all the washouts, mud, log jams, fallen trees. We have been trying to keep up with it all. some areas encountered over 4 inches of mud that had to be scraped off, dryed and brushed clean.
- Tree Clearing - We are also clearing low hanging branches along the trails. Please excuse the debris on the trail, they will be brushed off next week.
Trail Maintenance:
The sometimes excessive rainfall has cause problems with area trails. The Gay Lea Wilson and others have been flooded at times and the clean-up has been costly and time consuming. Flood waters, plugged culverts, debris and dirt on the trail surfaces are the obvious problems but storms have a way of exposing any structural or base layer deficiencies.
The public's observations of trail conditions are very important as they are often the first indication that a problem exists. Thank you for the reports we have received and please continue to do so and help us keep the use of our trails a safe, enjoyable experience.
The broken or blocked drainage tiles along I80 at the
Gay Lea Wilson trail have been repaired and the trail patched. There continues to be mud/water problems beneath the bridge. PCC staff is exploring solutions that might lessen the problem of a trail that is located very close to a flood prone stream.
The construction of a new section of trail and a new culvert underpass on the Great Western Trail at Army Post Road is still underway. They are pouring the wing walls on the new culvert this week. Please be careful around the area of construction activity.
New Trail Projects:
The Mark C. Ackelson Trail - Phase 2, on the north shore of Easter Lake is underway. We are on schedule for a fall opening. Clearing and grubbing is underway as well as a limited amount of preliminary grading.
The
Chichaqua Valley Trail Extension between Bondurant and Des Moines bid on June 17th. and the Polk County Conservation Board will decide upon award on June 9th. The trail construction will start this Summer and will continue through 2015.