N_C
07-27-06, 07:45 AM
The other night while relaxing after a hard day of RAGBRAI we were talking about bike routes & trails. A club member asked me about when the trail will be completed. He said it with attitude. I understand his attitude because the city is not doing anything to finish it right now. I often feel the same way.
He asked me because I am a member of the Siouxland Trails Foundation. The local advocacy group for trails & bike routes in my community. He asked thinking the STF has any control over when these things happen, unfortunatly we do not. I kindly pointed that out to him. Try as we might we can not tell the city when to complete a trail.
The trail in question is the Lewis & Clark river front trail. There is a section that is not completed yet. The reason is because of what the DOT is going to do to I-29 starting in 2009. The city does not want to complete the trail, even though they have the money & materials, for fear of the DOT tearing the trail up during the course of the I-29 project. The trail will be affected by the DOT. The city figures it best to not finish the trail until the DOT has finalized it's plans for their project. This way they do not spend more money later replacing the trail or repairing it because of the DOT project.
I agree with this & pointed that out to the person who asked about it. I also stated I do not know when that will happen though. I advised he speak with the Parks & Rec. director about it. I also suggested he get involved with the Siouxland Trails Foundation to help with these efforts of completeing the trail.
One of the tenative plans is the DOT will complete the trail & replace/repair the sections of the existing trail that will be impacted by their project. Then I'm sure the city will get a bill for it form the DOT. This is not a bad idea though it could take longer for the unfinished trail to be built.
So right now the ball is in the DOT's court & we're waiting for them to tell the city & the STF what their plans are.
He asked me because I am a member of the Siouxland Trails Foundation. The local advocacy group for trails & bike routes in my community. He asked thinking the STF has any control over when these things happen, unfortunatly we do not. I kindly pointed that out to him. Try as we might we can not tell the city when to complete a trail.
The trail in question is the Lewis & Clark river front trail. There is a section that is not completed yet. The reason is because of what the DOT is going to do to I-29 starting in 2009. The city does not want to complete the trail, even though they have the money & materials, for fear of the DOT tearing the trail up during the course of the I-29 project. The trail will be affected by the DOT. The city figures it best to not finish the trail until the DOT has finalized it's plans for their project. This way they do not spend more money later replacing the trail or repairing it because of the DOT project.
I agree with this & pointed that out to the person who asked about it. I also stated I do not know when that will happen though. I advised he speak with the Parks & Rec. director about it. I also suggested he get involved with the Siouxland Trails Foundation to help with these efforts of completeing the trail.
One of the tenative plans is the DOT will complete the trail & replace/repair the sections of the existing trail that will be impacted by their project. Then I'm sure the city will get a bill for it form the DOT. This is not a bad idea though it could take longer for the unfinished trail to be built.
So right now the ball is in the DOT's court & we're waiting for them to tell the city & the STF what their plans are.