Trail Connections

A Quarterly Newsletter published by the Linn County Trails Association.

President's Message

By Jim Wing, LCTA President

This will be my last newsletter as president of LCTA. It has been an enjoyable two years, and I feel we have accomplished a lot. However, I am still of the opinion that without LCTA, trail building progress in this metro area would be extremely limited at best. We talk and remind and talk some more, but mostly we try to get our elected officials and conservation board to place a higher priority on trail development. Much of the leg work for putting together grant applications and meeting funding request deadlines is coordinated by LCTA's Ron McGraw serving in a volunteer capacity. We still fulfill a real need in this community. I'd like to summarize what it is that we have done this past year and ask you to continue to support us.

We were instrumental in putting together a Cedar Rapids grant application for funding the Cemar Trail. This trail will connect the Cedar River Trail at Cedar Lake with Marion, utilizing much of the abandoned Milwaukee Railroad right-of-way past the Cedarapids (Iowa Manufacturing) plant.

We have worked extensively this past year with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Iowa Department of Transportation, Linn County, and the town of Ely, to revive the Hoover Trail project to at least Ely initially. This will add another three miles past the end of the Cedar River Trail, and additional expansion would follow.

We have completed the purchase of a critical section of the Grant Wood Trail from the Chicago Central Railroad. Also, we will have completed the missing bridge project and continue to make other improvements to the trail. The Jones County GWT group is making tremendous progress as well, and remember that their part of the GWT is being spearheaded by their local conservation board.

We have formed a committee that is working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Renaissance Group. The purpose of this committee is to accelerate the process of trail building. This may eventually prove to be the most important thing that we have done.

When you receive our Fall Fundraiser letter in a few days, I hope you will choose to continue your generous support. All of the above listed projects require money to make them happen. Our organization is strong and energetic, and we have great new leadership taking over. Some day we may become unnecessary when a situation exists where the local municipal/county governments put trail development as a priority. Until that time comes, we need your help.

Personally, I’d like to thank all of you. I have enjoyed meeting many of you these past two years, and I do plan on remaining very involved.

Grant Wood Trail Report

October 8, 2002-Completion of the flat car bridge is taking longer than had been anticipated but we are continuing to make progress. The approaches to the bridge have been completed so that it is now possible to drive onto the bridge.

After the approaches were finished, a center support for the flat car was installed using a stack of three 12 x 12 oak timbers, each three feet long. These timbers were trapped together and wedged between the bottom of the flat car and the top of the center pier of the bridge, and then clamped into place.

We are now ready for the asphalt surface to be applied, which will be done as soon as the asphalt contractor completes a current job in Lisbon. Installing the chain link fence will then be the long-awaited final step in completing the bridge.

Although the construction season will soon be winding down, we hope to be able to get some grading done yet this year in the 1.5 mile segment from the south side of the bridge all the way southwest to Creekside and Secrist Roads. In addition, we are hoping to correct a few other problem areas such as muddy spots and a sinkhole where a small culvert has collapsed.

There have been far more than the usual number of fallen trees on the trail at various times this year. We want to thank Gordy Gott, Dick Chelikowsky, Dave Oliver, Roger Flint, Jim Houlahan, Dean Barnum, Chuck Kelsey, and others who have been especially helpful whenever we needed help in clearing the trail. If we haven't got around to calling on you for trail-clearing help, and you would like to participate in the future, please let me know. We are always looking for volunteers and you don’t need a chain saw to participate, although that is always helpful!

Finally, we want to thank Kevin Shoop, a grading contractor who has done a lot of work on the GWT, for building the gravel approaches for the bridge. He has also recently re-graded the Hwy. 13 approach to the trailhead which was becoming badly eroded. Kevin has done these two jobs at no cost to LCTA, which we greatly appreciate.

We are looking forward to publishing photos of the COMPLETED flat car bridge in the next issue of the newsletter!

On the Road Again

A Visit to the North Bend Rail Trail

By Jim & Barb Klein

During the week of September 15, 2002, we rode our bikes on the North Bend Rail Trail in West Virginia. We also rode this trail in the fall of 1996 and were anxious to see what improvements had been made in the intervening six years.

The North Bend Rail Trail is a multi-use recreational trail operated by West Virginia State Parks. The trail is on an abandoned B & O rail line. Stretching approximately 72 miles from Interstate Highway I-77 near Parkersburg, WV, to Wolf Summit, WV, this scenic trail passes through 10 tunnels and crosses 36 bridges. Additional trail information can be found at the web site: www.wvparks.com/northbendrailtrail

The longest tunnel is 2,297 feet (7/16 of a mile) long. In addition to the 10 tunnels the trail goes through, there are three abandoned tunnels near the trail. All tunnels except one are curved so it gets quite dark in the tunnels and a flashlight is required.

The trail is fairly level with a few grades in the 1% to 2% range. The trail goes through narrow valleys with steep hills or small mountains along the sides. Hardwood trees cover the hills with an occasional pine. The towns along the trail are “linear towns.” That is, they are only a few blocks wide but are 1 to 2 miles long because they are built along the winding roads in the bottoms of the steep valleys.

In general, the trail surface varies greatly. Some sections have a layer of finely crushed limestone. Other sections tend to be the original roadbed with the ballast removed, with both rough and smooth areas. A mountain bike with knobby tires is definitely required for this trail. Bikes with shock absorbers (alas, not ours!) would also help.

We arrived at the North Bend State Park, which is adjacent to the trail, Sunday afternoon and set up camp. There is a one-mile connector trail from the campground in the park to the trail. The connector joins the trail at about mile marker 29.

On Monday afternoon, we drove over to Salem to bike the eastern end of the trail. We left Salem and biked 8.5 miles to the east. We passed through the towns of Bristol and Wolf Summit. A mile east of Bristol we went through our first tunnel. The trail officially ends in Wolf Summit but an unimproved section of the trail extends to the town of Wilsonburg. We rode the two miles to Wilsonburg and the trail was quite rough in some sections. Starting at Wilsonburg, the ballast is still on the railroad bed, but the ties and rails have been removed. When we rode this trail in 1996 the rails and ties were still in place. A man we talked to at the old train depot in Salem said the trail association is negotiating with the railroad to purchase the remaining 4.5 miles of right-of-way so the trail can be extended into Clarksburg.

After riding back to Salem, we rode west on the trail to about mile marker 55 and back again. This section of the trail is in better condition than the eastern part. Most of it has been overlaid with a thin layer of crushed limestone. At mile marker 58 we went through our second tunnel. We biked 37 miles this afternoon. Because of the roughness of the trail in some sections, we averaged 7.5 mph for the ride. For comparison, we usually average 12 mph on the limestone covered Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

On Tuesday, we started out from our campsite in a light fog and headed east. The first four miles were rather rough because of tracks. On weekends there is a concession that offers horse drawn wagon rides on the trail. The roughness continued on to the town of Ellenboro. The trail between the park and Ellenboro has three tunnels. In Ellenboro the trail passes a glass factory that gives tours. The trail then continues on through the small towns of Pennsboro, Toll Gate (population 53), Greenwood, Central Station, West Union, and Smithburg. We stopped and turned around at mile marker 55. This section of the trail has three additional tunnels. After a stop in West Union, we continued on back to the North Bend State Park. The distance for the day was 53 miles and again our average speed was 7.5 mph.

It was raining when we got up on Wednesday and showers were predicted throughout the day so we decided not to bike that day. When the rain let up we biked out to take pictures of tunnels that were near the campground.

On Thursday we started out from our campsite and headed west to finish the remainder of the trail. We traveled through the towns of Cornwallis, Petroleum, and Walker, and into the outskirts of Parkersburg. We passed through two tunnels, one of which is reported to be haunted. The improved trail stops at mile marker 1, but we continued on and rode the unfinished (very rough) trail into the outskirts of Parkersburg, then headed back. The section of the trail between mile markers 1 and 16 has a good layer of crushed limestone, although it is rough. We met a group of six ladies on horses on this section of the trail. Along the way we stopped and looked at two abandoned tunnels near the trail. Both of them were intact and it looked like some bicyclists had ridden through them. It appears that the railroad cut a roadbed through the mountains in order to bypass the tunnels. It was cheaper to do this than to enlarge and maintain the old tunnels.

The west end of the trail is more rural and the valleys are wider and more open. In the early morning we saw many deer and four groups of wild turkeys. We also saw a red fox, and a long black snake sunning itself on the trail. We stopped in Cairo on the way back, before returning to our campsite. This day’s ride was 60 miles.

Although the North Bend Rail Trail is rough in sections, it is a pretty trail and worth the effort to ride it. The unique feature of the trail is the large number of tunnels. The Elroy-Sparta trail in Wisconsin has three tunnels but this trail has 13, ten that you go through and three that are beside the trail. Parkersburg is a 12-hour drive from Cedar Rapids.

Metro Trails Status

The recent Gazette article on building the Cedar River Trail segments South of Tait Cummins Park, contained good news about crossing the Union Pacific tracks at C ST SW, but the construction dates of 2004 for segment F and 2005 for segment G needs further explanation.

The good news is that we will get a bridge over the busy and soon-to-be-double-tracked Union Pacific main line. There will be an added cost for the bridge and probably further negotiations with the railroad but this is a major plus. This has been a long struggle in which the trail crossing was a small part in some big issues between the Crandic and Union Pacific railroads. Thanks to Don Thomas for hanging in there.

The scheduling matter involves the matching funds and these come from the operating budget. These funds become available at the end of each June for the following fiscal year. Some important matters, such as route finalization, bonding, and contract letting, can only start to happen in July. Since many of these items must be approved/checked off by IDOT and they must come in a certain order. The practical effect is that several months can elapse before any dirt gets moved. Thus you are into the fall and often there is not enough time to get the work done before the winter sets in.

On the north end of the CRT, work proceeds slowly north of 42^nd ST NE, with the contract calling for completion by the end of the year. The next link from Sylvia St to Blairs Ferry Road is to be contracted for this winter with work starting when weather permits. IDOT let the contract for the Hiawatha segment last week after months of delay due to route problems. Both of these segments will likely end up being completed next summer.

Because of this. . . .

Some work on the WEST RIVER TRAIL might get done yet this year. Where the paved trail ends at Penn Avenue, the small sidewalk will be widened, as will the sidewalk going up-river along Ellis Blvd. This is to get ready for the major remake of Ellis into a real boulevard, the laying of some big pipe, and the redo of the riverfront. When completed, we will have a trail extending to Edgewood Road with connections to the NW and NE sides of town. The route will be somewhat different from that shown before, in that it will stay along Ellis Blvd. instead of continuing up Penn Ave. to get to the park. Don’t expect this before late 2004.

A grant application was made for Federal funding to build the CEMAR TRAIL—which will connect Cedar Rapids and Marion.

While Marion supported the CEMAR concept there is a need for route definition and cost estimates on their segments in order that they will be ready several years down the road. The long lead times are not often appreciated and it is hard to get money if you don’t know how much is needed.

The WEST LOOP TRAIL depends upon HWY-100 going forward. There has been much debate over the impact on the Rock Island preserve and sometimes more heat than light, but it looks as if the decision will be made soon. Look to the newspaper to keep you up to date on this one.

Over the years we have mostly pursued a trail strategy of using federal/state grants to get our trails built. While much progress has been made, the pace has been slow and the “gap” is big. It is one thing to have fewer miles of trail than Des Moines (56 miles) and another to be behind Waterloo (50 miles), but it really puts a burr under the saddle when Mason City announces a plan for 100 miles of trail. We have about 30 miles of trail in Linn County and we are adding at the rate of about one/two miles a year on the average. So we need to take a new look at how we are going to get the job done.

There is also uncertainty about the grant money. This session of Congress must reauthorize T21, the Transportation Efficiency Act, which doles out a small fraction of the highway money for alternative transportation modes, with trails getting a small part of this. This year Iowa suspended awarding the states trail grant moneys, as noted above. Will the federal and state money get reinstated next year? We don’t know. Competition gets tougher every year as most counties have some trails in their plan.

Our strategy task team is finding out if we have another way, or will reaffirm that we are on the track available to us.

The goal here is to get Ely connected to the rest of Linn County via the CEDAR RIVER TRAIL. Right now we do not have a route. Several alternatives have been looked at, but the original ROW is still the best. There seems to be a general feeling that a trail connection would be good for the town and it would be a nice ride from Cedar Rapids, particularly if there was a place for ice cream or coffee. But the property owners have not agreed to discuss a trail. We need the city of Ely to find a route and agree to a maintenance plan and then we can approach the county about taking control of the project.

I will continue to monitor the “Save the Hoover Nature Trail” effort and report on the meeting with IDOT in the next issue. - Please send questions, comments and suggestions to rcmcgraw@mcleodusa.net

Marion Trail

Several meetings of the Railroad Abandonment Committee in Marion (which includes some LCTA members), have been held. At these meetings, preliminary thoughts have surfaced. For instance, the railroad should be converted to a trail but only as far west as about 7^th Avenue. Marion wants to remove the viaduct over 7^th Avenue while running Alburnett Road through. The plan is to get off the ROW a little east of the 7^th Avenue viaduct and run the trail over to Thomas Park.

At Thomas Park the trail would connect to the existing Marion Parks/Boyson Trail (See map page 9). From this point you could go south and connect with the proposed Cemar Trail to Cedar Rapids or north and connect with the proposed Dry Creek Trail to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail in Hiawatha.

On the east end, the railroad ends a few blocks east of 35^th Street. According to Marion City Manager Jeff Schott, a connection from the east end to Squaw Creek Park is being considered, with the crossing of Highway 100 a problem. Marion is looking at the possibility of coordinating the crossing of the highway with a road project that will require an intersection with a stoplight.

Squaw Creek Park will serve as a trail hub with a possible trail north and a connection south to the Sac and Fox Trail. The Grant Wood Trail will take you east from the park as far as Olin in Jones County.