Twenty years has brought much change to Sioux Center’s recreational trail system.
What began with a 3.2-paved trail connecting the community to Sandy Hollow Recreation Area in the early 1990s has turned into about 7 miles of paved trail for nonmotorized use running through Sioux Center.
Sioux Center Trails Council members Darryl Ten Pas and Brian Van Engen recently shared a brief history of the trails progress and trails council goals with the Sioux Center City Council.
“What we see as the goal of the trails is to connect residential neighborhoods and housing developments with schools, parks, retail areas, particularly downtown, and industrial areas,” Van Engen said. “The uses for the trail we see are for children going to school, for exercise and recreation, for visitors and for employees commuting to work.”
Sioux Center has the opportunity to be a destination for biking, as the trails have been packed this summer. People were coming to town unloading bikes to enjoy Sioux Center’s trail system.
The latest section of trail measures about three-tenths of a mile. Completed in July, it loops around the pond by Sioux Center Health and extends south to the Woodbridge development along 13th Avenue Southeast.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held for the new section in the future, Ten Pas told the city council at its Aug. 11 meeting.
He noted the trails council’s next short term goal is to connect this loop with the loop around Crown Pointe/Royale Meadows (completed in 2016).
Parks director Lee Van Meeteren noted some walkers have already made a path connecting the two sections and that graveling the path could be a temporary solution.
The previous section of trail added was near Interstates last year.
The city of Sioux Center allocates $150,000 annually, funded by local option sales tax, to trails projects. That amount covers about a mile each year.
“We’ve been doing little sections every year and spending dollars to improve the blacktop out to Sandy Hollow and fixing our first section we did all those years ago,” Ten Pas said.
Other trail portions include the loop around KSOU and The Regency in 2015, the first stretch to the hospital in 2014 and Sioux Center’s main north/south trail wrapped up in 2006-07.
There are no definitive plans for the next portion of trail to be added, though an option on the west side of town connecting Tower Fields to the Walmart development is a goal.
Van Engen said, too, as the city has grown north, the trails council is encouraging the placement of trail easements to have a place for the trail to continue going north, possibly one day making it to Dordt University’s Agriculture Stewardship Center and future home to the Sioux County fairgrounds.
With the city owning several acres of land north of Walmart and looking to develop that area in the future, mayor Dave Krahling encouraged the trails council to continue keeping a trail on the west side of town a priority.
City council members also voiced concern about trail crossing of Highway 75 at the 16th Street Southeast stoplight intersection, noting they’d like to see a trail crossing on the north side and have paved trail all the way to Walmart. The crossing is currently on the south side of the stoplight and the trail ends at the next intersection a block away.
Van Engen said there is enough easement to put a path on the north side. The timing for such change could be considered during the Highway 75 enhancement project.
Van Engen also updated the city council on the progress for the Sioux Center to Orange City trail idea being worked on by the Sioux County Trails Council, of which Van Engen is also a member. That trail, which would extend south from Sandy Hollow and wind its way near the Sioux County Jail north of Orange City, is being divided into three phases.
“We’re about 300 feet from getting easements set for the route,” he said, noting the council trails council would like to have the county hold the easements and have an agreement with the two communities, but that’s still being considered. “We’ve come a long way.”