3 more miles of Marion’s Grant Wood Trail to be paved

The Iowa Transportation Commission has awarded $400,000 to the Linn County Conservation Board to pave a portion of the Grant Wood Trail, which starts in Marion.

The award was among the nearly $1.5 million the commission approved Tuesday for four State Recreational Trails Program projects. The program was created in 1988 with the purpose of developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both motorized and non-motorized users. This funding is available to cities, counties, state agencies, local governments and nonprofit organizations through an annual application-based program.

The Grant Wood Trail, which now has paved and crushed limestone surfaces, is an 8.5-mile trail originating in Marion with another 3.8 miles in two segments in Jones County. The funds will be used to pave about 3 miles of the trail east of Highway 13 from Waldo’s Rock Park, 6303 Partners Ave. to Oxley Road. The trail was constructed a few years ago with a limestone surface in anticipation of hard surfacing it when funding was secured.

The work is expected to be done in the coming year. The Iowa Department of Transportation will bid the project.

In other action, the commission approved a targeted jobs creation loan of $200,000 and a grant of $180,000 for a Canadian Pacific unit train expansion at Pattison Sand Company, based in northeast Iowa. The project will help retain 15 jobs and create 35 jobs, the Iowa DOT said.

The commission approved $6.2 million in funding for seven rail infrastructure and related rail development projects under the Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant Program. The projects are expected to support the creation and retention of 285 jobs within three years of project completion.

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