Lindale Trail to connect Marion, Cedar Rapids

A new recreational trail slated to open this summer is expected to become a favorite for bike commuters between Marion and Cedar Rapids.

The Lindale Trail will provide the first recreational trail linkage between the two cities, traveling east and west for nearly a mile from C Avenue NE in Cedar Rapids to the Boyson Trail in Marion along a former Canadian National Railway segment.

The Linn County Trails Association will donate 2,000 feet of former rail bed to the city of Cedar Rapids this week for the Cedar Rapids segment of the trail after buying it from the railroad.

Marion has already acquired its portion of the rail bed, and is currently working on a tie-in to the north-south Boyson Trail at its end.

Such recreational trail projects often take years, as exemplified by another east-west trail project, the Ce-Mar Trail. That trail is proposed to link Marion and Cedar Rapids along a more southerly route.

“This trail has been a pretty fast turnaround compared to most,” said Linn County Trails Association President John Wauer. Such trails tend to get much higher usage than isolated trail remnants because they provide valuable linkages, Wauer said.

The Lindale Trail got a big break when the Linn County Trails Association learned from the city of Marion that the Cedar Rapids portion of the former Canadian National Railway easement could be acquired, and jumped at the opportunity, Wauer said.

The property was available at reasonable cost because it does not have good accessibility from neighboring streets, Wauer said. Many trail projects get bogged down in land acquisition talks with multiple owners because Iowa law does not allow cities to have eminent domain power for trails. But the railroad easement was still intact, allowing negotiations with only one party.

“The long-term connection opportunities for Cedar Rapids and Marion are just exceptional,” said Steve Hershner, development chair for the trails association. “We couldn't pass it up.”

The association spent $25,000 primarily from supporter contributions to buy the Canadian National property. It held a meeting with the trail's neighbors to share its plans and listen to concerns.

The association also conducted a trail cleanup on March 31, picking up car parts, a 5,000-gallon water storage tank and beverage cans more than a quarter-century old.

“It was like Alice's Restaurant,” Hershner said, referring to a Vietnam War-era song in which the discovery that a municipal landfill is closed on Thanksgiving leads to illegal dumping and eventually, deferral from the draft.

About half of the Marion portion of the trail is graveled and usable. A contractor has begun work on grading and graveling the other half. Cedar Rapids plans to pave its portion of the trail in time to have it usable this summer, said Ron Griffith, bicycle coordinator and a project engineer II for the city of Cedar Rapids.

The Linn County Trails Association also plans to help the city of Cedar Rapids with funding for paving the trail, Wauer said.

Marion Planning and Development Director Tom Treharne and Griffith said a significant demand for the trail has arisen from bicycle commuters who work at Rockwell Collins, the area's largest private employer.

“That's the big push to get this done - that there's a demand out there,” Griffith said. He said some Rockwell Collins commuters have even used the trail in pre-developed condition, exiting at the Cedar Rapids end through business parking lots that back up to it.

Rockwell Collins was recently recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a bicycle-friendly business. Hershner said the trails association has held discussions with the company to identify other cooperation opportunities.

The connection with the Boyson Trail on the Marion end will greatly expand opportunities to use the trail. Treharne said the north-south Boyson Trail connects a series of parks and neighborhoods from south Marion to northeast Cedar Rapids.

Access to the trail from the Cedar Rapids end will be through an existing easement through the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 1362 Hall at 5720 C Ave. NE. Entry to the trail from C Avenue will be in front of the Walgreens store at 5750 C Ave. NE, or from Blairs Ferry Road east of the Road Ranger convenience store.

The metro trail network eventually will be extended to the Grant Wood Trail, an east-west trail from Linn County into Jones County from Marion, and to the Cedar River Trail from Marion, under the Cedar Rapids Comprehensive Trails Plan.