After making its long-waited debut last June, the Tedesco Environmental Learning Corridor, the 37-acre park located at the Iowa State University Research Park, is embarking on its third phase of improvements, which would provide multi-use connectivity from the park to outside of Ames.

“The Conservation Board and the Board of Supervisors was very concerned that, in order to do the corridor, we leverage a trail connectivity to (county road) R38 to Tedesco,” said Mike Cox, the county’s conservation board director. “This is bringing that project forward now, and it would essentially pave 2 1/2 miles of new trail.”

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved plans and released the bidding process for Phase III, which includes a 10-foot wide, multi-use paved trail from University Boulevard to county road R-38 on the south side of Ames along 260th Street. The period for submitting bids will close March 3.

The 2 1/2 mile trail west from the middle roundabout at University Avenue along the vacated Old Chicago and Northwestern railroad bed diagonally to 260th Street will eventually connect to R-38.

Cox said that all the necessary easements have been acquired for the project. County staff told the Tribune, that weather-permitting, construction could be completed by late summer or early fall.