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Last Updated: 11:48 pm, Sunday, October 12th, 2003
Quad-Cities Times
CLINTON, Iowa — One prominent feature of Clinton’s riverfront today is the pedestrian/bike trail from the northern edge of Clinton to the U.S. 30 Bridge.
A group of residents wants to extend the trail to Camanche and link it to a chain of bicycle and pedestrian trails that will follow the Mississippi River.
Clyde Bradley of Clinton, a former state representative and member of the Clinton County Recreational Trails Committee, said a recreational route between the two cities would give pedestrians and cyclists more trails to use and safe access away from traffic between the two communities and their recreational facilities.
“It would expand the use of that trail immensely,” he said.
Committee member Steve Howes said the group also hopes the proposed trail extension will create a better, safer and more tourism-friendly route for the nationally designated Mississippi River Trail system, which will cover 280 miles in Iowa when it is completed.
The trail was approved in 1995 to allow cyclists to ride from the river’s source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota down to New Orleans.
The existing plan for Clinton County’s portion of the national trail route is to extend Clinton’s trail along 13th Avenue North and Elvira Road, then south down 308th Avenue through Low Moor before connecting with U.S. 67 and existing Scott County trails.
Bradley said this route would be too far away from the city’s conveniences for families and other travelers to use. Others fear the route could be dangerous for bicyclists, especially families, because of nearby vehicle traffic. A trail along the river’s edge provides fewer chances for bicycles or pedestrians to clash with vehicles, Howes said.
Many questions linger. Supporters are not sure how the trail would be designed, or what route it would take from Clinton to Camanche, then on to Folletts and someday beyond.
The group plans to ask for $60,000 from the Clinton County Development Corp., formerly the Clinton County Gaming Association, to help pay for an engineering feasibility study. Bradley said the group already received $7,500 each from the Clinton County Board of Supervisors and the City of Clinton as matches for the grant.
Howes said the group will seek federal and state grants for the project.
“It’s an amenity the county needs and deserves,” he said, adding the trail is expected to bring economic and tourism benefits to the area.
Bradley said the local trail connection could be completed as early as 2007.
Current estimates by the group say the completed Mississippi River Trail through Iowa could bring as much as $20 million in revenues to the communities along the trail in the state.
Dan Manley of Clinton, a representative of the national Mississippi River Trail system, said he wants to see Clinton and Camanche linked this way — much like the Illinois side of the river already has done.
He said bikers or walkers now can take a route of recreational trails from Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive to Fulton, Ill., and on to the Quad-Cities.
“In the future, I hope to have one that goes east to west across Clinton County,” Manley said. “And hopefully, Clinton will be the link to allow you to ride your bike from Waterloo, Iowa, to Lake Shore Drive.”
Contact the city desk at (563) 383-2245
or newsroom@qctimes.com.
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