Coralville pursues funding for trail

CORALVILLE - City officials hope to secure roughly $200,000 in state funds to finish a portion of trail to connect to neighboring Iowa City - a length of trail that has been missing since the 2008 flood.

On Tuesday, the Coralville City Council voted to approve a resolution to apply for a roughly $197,000 grant from the State Recreation Trails Program.

Ellen Habel, Coralville assistant city administrator, said the length of trail in discussion may not be incredibly long, but it's a big connector between Iowa City and Coralville's Iowa River Landing.

'Even though it's about a half-mile, it's a really important piece in connecting the two cities,” she said.

Sherri Proud, director of Coralville Parks and Recreation, said the length of trail will replace the former asphalt trail known as the CRANDIC Trail, which is named for the nearby park in Iowa City and was washed out during the 2008 flood.

'This piece will actually connect to 17 more miles of the Iowa River Corridor Trail,” Proud said.

The 2,470 feet of trail being proposed includes a bridge crossing Clear Creek where the stream meets the Iowa River. H-pile bridge supports have already been installed in the creek.

Work on the trail system was placed on the back burner until the city completed flood mitigation efforts following the 2008 flood, Habel said.

'At the time we knew that we had some flood protection to do in that area, it didn't make necessarily a lot of sense to put the trail back right away,” she said.

Proud said that since the flood, those using the trail have been forced to use the sidewalk along First Avenue.

'It's a big connector for us in terms of safety,” she said. 'This will move bike traffic behind the businesses again.”

That also means those using the trail will be able to enjoy the scenery along the Iowa River.

If approved, the grant will be used along with more than $462,000 already secured through the MPO Transportation Alternatives

committee for 2020, which means work on the connection still is a few years off. The city will set aside about $220,000 in

Hotel/Motel Tax dollars to fund the remainder of the almost $880,000 project.