At issue is a piece of ground in Riverdale that people were using to move between the Duck Creek Bike Path and the Mississippi River Trail via South Kensington Street. Complaints from the neighborhood led Riverdale to erect fencing and a gate across a portion of the path adjacent to South Kensington Street in June of 2020, preventing bicyclists and runners from using the 5-foot-wide asphalt-paved path.
The following August, Bettendorf asked that the barrier be removed until a safe alternative could be developed. Riverdale’s City Council refused to take the gate down.
The disagreement led to Bettendorf ending agreements with Riverdale through which it provided its neighbor with snow removal and engineering inspection services.
And the Quad-Cities Bicycle Club and the Cornbelt Running Club subsequently filed a lawsuit in October of 2020 against the city in Scott County District Court to have the fence removed and access restored. The running club, in court filings, argued the fence constitutes a "nuisance" that blocks access to a public street.