Popular North Liberty bike trail due to close during construction

IOWA CITY - A popular Johnson County bike trail likely will close for a few months for construction of a new high school in North Liberty, but cycling advocates say a detour for bikes should be provided as it would be for cars.

The Dubuque Street bike trail, an 8-foot wide link between Iowa City and North Liberty, runs through the site of the planned Liberty High School, at the intersection of Dubuque Street and North Liberty Road on the east edge of North Liberty.

Construction will require the trail be torn up to do earth work and lay water and sewer lines, said Duane Van Hemert, director of Iowa City Schools physical plant.

'The trail will be closed at some point later this summer and will be replaced with a new and wider trail,” Van Hemert said in an email. 'Possibly from mid-August to mid-November.”

The trail closure would be from around North Liberty Road NE to just north of 275th Street NE.

Preliminary site work for the $44 million, 1,000-student school began this week, he said.

Bicycling advocates have been pushing for accommodations, such as a detour, for bikers who use the trail for commuting and recreation.

Richard Grimlund, 77, who lives nearby and biked 550 miles mostly on the trail last year, has been contacting city and school officials to raise questions about plans to close the bike trail.

'I think they ought to provide accommodations throughout the process one way or another,” Grimlund said. 'This is a popular trail and it is used by lots of bikers and to just summarily close it for the convenience of construction when it would be possible to have temporary alternatives is unacceptable.”

Janelle Rettig, a Johnson County supervisor and a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County's Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee, agreed a detour must be provided. She said she has asked the Board of Supervisors to send a letter to the school district, which is overseeing the project, urging accommodations for cyclists.

'I think it's become a route of travel not only for recreation but also for commuting and if it was a road we'd have a detour and people would be detoured on a safe route and we should do the same for bicycles,” Rettig said. 'Unwillingness to spend the money is not acceptable to me.”

Van Hemert said the district and contractor are working to minimize the impact to cyclists, but don't have plans for accommodations for cyclists during the closure.

'The cost to relocate the path is only one consideration,” Van Hemert said. 'The real issue is there is no safe place to put it during the reconstruction.”

The school is expected to be complete before the 2017 year. When finished, the existing bike trail will be replaced with a 10-foot wide trail that is raised up 5 feet so it is level with the road instead of down near a drainage ditch. A pedestrian/bicycle trail also will pass through the high school site to the north leading to a future development, Van Hemert said.

Nick Bergus, a spokesman for North Liberty, said the city still is reviewing options but the school district has the lead on the construction. McComas-Lacina Construction is the general contractor.

'It's been difficult because there's not a shoulder to put bikes onto,” Bergus said. 'I know it's not ideal for bikers to be on Dubuque Street, at least right there.”