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By Deidre Bello
Iowa City Press-Citizen
NORTH LIBERTY - Residents concerned with child safety, access and a trail funding deadline had city councilors at odds Tuesday as they failed to move forward with research for a potential trail route.
"It's more important to get a safe route for residents of Deerfield (neighborhood) to the pool," North Liberty resident Paul Osterholt said. "But I feel very strongly that building the wrong trail for North Liberty is not the right thing to do."
On April 27, the City Council chose from four trail extension options to be paid for by federal money and transportation enhancement funds totaling $175,000 and an additional $25,000 in community enhancement funds. The preferred route would travel east from the existing trail on Penn Street, then north along Dubuque Street and north on the east side of Highway 965 and along Scales Bend Road a few yards past the entrance to Fox Run neighborhood.
City Administrator Brian James told the council he would like to start taking bids this summer for the trail, which needs to be built before June 2005 to receive grant funding. City staff also needs direction to do more accurate cost analysis, he said. Preliminary estimates show a trail could cost up to $175,000 if built along a widened, paved shoulder.
Osterholt said some of his neighbors and parks and recreation commissioners remain concerned with children riding their bikes along Highway 965 to get to the pool, and the trail's ability to service Deerfield subdivision. The neighborhood is northwest of Highway 965 and 240th Street.
Deerfield resident Sara Langenberg told the council her 5-year-old son has no safe route to ride his bike to visit relatives in the nearby Fox Run neighborhood.
In addition, Osterholt said Gary Zarek, owner of Centro Inc., would like the council to fence off any potential trail near the 950 North Bend Drive business to prohibit bikers from causing safety problems in the parking lot. He presented the council with a map showing five additional route options. His preferred route would travel west along Penn Street then north along a proposed road called Alexander Way to a proposed subdivision.
The city will build a portion of Alexander Way as part of an agreement with First Industrial of Chicago - the company that will lease the site for a new 75,000-square-foot Maytag warehouse. During a special session May 11, councilors suspended the rules to have three readings and voted to approve annexation and zoning changes on a new site location and portion off a second parcel on the property.
Councilors remained indecisive on what to do with the trail because its design and location could become an expensive conflict with possible road improvements and result in a wasted investment.
What's Next?
The council scheduled a 6 p.m. June 8 work session with the Parks and Recreation Commission and the public to reconsider the trail route and design.
Source: http://www.press-citizen.com/news/052604trail.htm
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