WALNUT CREEK TRAIL:
The three-quarter mile connection between North Valley Drive and the Bill Riley Trail is expected to be completed by May or June 2008. The city is currently negotiating with one private property owner at the west end of North Valley Drive. A decision or resolution is expected by the middle of September. The wetlands mitigation issue has pretty much been taken care of. The project will be put out for bid in January 2008.

We will probably have to live with the silting problem underneath the Grand Avenue bridge for the next 5-6 years. If the bridge is replaced at that time, then the level of the trail can be raised to help eliminate the problem. If the bridge is only rehabilitated at that time, there would be no change to the trail. The city is well aware of the problem and this winter will look for ways to improve its service to remove silt.

Placement of the Central Iowa Trails signage is currently in the design phase and some of those trail signs may be placed in April or May of 2008. You may have noticed that Windsor Heights has placed Central Iowa Trails signage at the intersection of 73rd and University.

I suggested to Richard Brown, the city?s Trails Coordinator, to contact Waterbury Neighborhood Association president Bill Green to discuss potential neighborhood funding of a trailhead at Walnut Hill and 62nd.

WAVELAND TRAIL:
The first public meeting concerning the Waveland Trail is scheduled for Thursday, October 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the Temple on Grand Avenue. This kickoff meeting will basically outline the public process for establishing the trail. A second meeting will be held 3-4 weeks later. Genus Landscape Architects, the consultants hired by the city, will then present 2-6 route options. City staff will also be present at this ?open house? meeting. Comment cards will be available for the public. A third public meeting will be held by Christmas and a proposed route will then be presented. OTHER DES MOINES TRAILS:
By July or August of 2008 a trail connecting the Meredith Trail with the Bill Riley Trail will be completed. It will start at the Meredith Trail by Gray?s Lake and will follow the railroad tracks, going under Fleur Drive at the railroad viaduct, and proceed to S.W. 30th. It then will turn north to Valley Drive and proceed through Waterworks Park and connect to the Bill Riley Trail at the bridge in the park. This trail will be constructed in lieu of the tunnel that was originally proposed to go underneath Fleur Drive at Gray?s Lake. This trail will allow users to travel from the Bill Riley Trail to downtown without having to use the roads in Waterworks Park and without having to cross over Fleur Drive.

Completion of the Riverwalk Trail is unknown at this time as money is short for the project. The signature bridge that will cross the Des Moines River has been started and completion is expected in a year and a half.

The Trestle To Trestle trail should be done in a few weeks. This trail connects the Inter-Urban Trail, by the Des Moines River, to the Johnston trail system. The tunnel under Beaver, the last major component of the trail, should be completed in a few weeks.

Rick Doyle
Chair, Recreational Trail Committee
Waterbury Neighborhood Association
rdoyle@galliganlaw.com