THE PROJECTS

Raccoon River Valley Trail Improvements - 9th Street through Highway 169

Estimated Cost: $112,658

The group wanted to look at improving the Raccoon River Valley Trail from Ninth Street all the way to the bridge on Highway 6, but they knew it would be a huge project, so they broke it up into two projects. This part of the project includes creating an access point at Ninth Street and improving the trail crossing at Nile Kinnick Drive.

Those wishing to explore the downtown area would be encouraged to cross Highway 169 and go to Ninth Street, instead of riding north on the highway and crossing into downtown at the busy four-way stop at Main Street.

“It’s just more of a feel of how you want Adel to be viewed,” Bengtson said. “Because it’s a tree-lined street, its a brick street, so their thought was to move bikers and drive them to the square on Ninth Street.”

The Ninth Street access point would include a small brick paver landing at the existing sidewalk, bike racks, a limestone seat wall and a brick way finding pillar, to point trail users towards downtown businesses and destinations.

Bengtson said that they also needed to look at the trail crossing at Nile Kinnick Drive from a safety standpoint.

“It’s marked, but it’s not very visible as people are driving,” Bengtson said. “They don’t realize that there’s a bike trail crossing there.”

The improvements to the crossing at Nile Kinnick Drive would help to alert drivers of the trail crossing at greater distances. It would include pavement markings with a brick stencil pattern over a red background and crossing signs with push-button-operated Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon LED lights.

This trail crossing would also include a way finding pillar and a cluster of limestone blocks along the existing drainage channel, which would provide seating and act as stepping stones from the trail down to the waterway.

Raccoon River Valley Trail Improvements - Highway 169 to the Raccoon River Bridge

Estimated Cost: $817,895

The main focus of this project was to create a new trailhead at the Raccoon River on the trail on Highway 6. This would include a parking lot, open space and a trailhead plaza.

This project would include extending East Fifth Street to the north of Highway 6 to easily bring local and out-of-town visitors to the trailhead parking lot from the south, according to the Community Visioning presentation materials.

The project proposes a brick paver plaza with public restrooms, limestone seat walls, bike racks and a brick way finding pillar, as well as a gravel path to a canoe launch on the Raccoon River and the potential for a future Adel water trail.

New tree plantings along the trail and in the area will also make the area look “not so sterile.” The trees would help to screen the industrial buildings from the trail while turf areas can be converted to low-maintenance prairie and shrub plantings to reduce mowing needs.

“You look down that trail now and there’s no trees, very little grass,” Bengtson said. “It’s very industrial on the south side. It butts up against the cement plant, it butts up against firewood place.”