Trail paves the way for recreation

Delores Lancaster, of Le Mars, enjoys regularly riding her bicycle and walking a recreational trail around the city. City officials are working to complete the final section of the trail. [Click to enlarge]

And she's not the only one.

People jogging, walking, biking, exercising dogs, in-line skating -- all use the trail.

When the trail is completed, it will be nearly nine miles in length. [Click to enlarge]

Even though it isn't complete yet, officials are working to finish its final section, which will complete the nearly 9-mile circuit.

Lancaster, a Le Mars native, chose a portion of the trail meandering beside the Floyd River on the west side of the city for her walk Wednesday evening.

There the grass was green and the sun peeked through the branches of large, leafy trees that blocked the sound of nearby traffic.

Among the nature sights and sounds on the trail is the Floyd River. [Click to enlarge]

"It's awesome," Lancaster said. "I like the nature."

Jogging in the same area was Blanca Biede, of Des Moines, in town for her job.

"Being a woman alone, I really like that it's kind of open," she said of the trail.

The recreation trail is also a pleasant outlet for those riding on two wheels.

Clayton Hodgson, a member of the Plymouth County Cyclists club, said it's nice that he doesn't have to be concerned with vehicle traffic on the trail.

For him it's also a social avenue.

"There's a lot of people that use the trail and I usually run into somebody that I know and we stop and visit," Hodgson said. "There's just a whole gob of uses for that trail and it seems like there's more and more all the time."

He and others are anxious to see it completed.

About 4,500 feet of the trail along the Floyd River between Business 75 and Fourth Avenue, which becomes Mahogany Avenue outside city limits, remains to be paved.

That work has been delayed while city officials await authorization from Union Pacific to allow the recreation trail to cross the railroad tracks, and while they obtain permission to remove a portion of ground for the trail from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

CRP is land is taken out of farm production and used for conservation purposes such as planting grass. A request to remove land from CRP must go through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the United States Department of Agriculture, said Joe Flannery, Le Mars city attorney.

"We're in the process of making that request, but we need some more information as to how much ground the trail will actually take out of the CRP," Flannery said. "We're waiting for final information so I can present it to the three land owners and then hopefully to the FSA."

He hopes to have the information and the request sent to the FSA within the next 10 days.

"We're in the final stages of it now, but a lot of it will depend when we get the permission, if we get the permission," Flannery said.

After the paving is completed, two bridges, one along Business 75 and the other farther down the trail about half-way between Business 75 and Municipal Park, can be set, said Bill Cole, Le Mars assistant city administrator.

"That will complete the whole rec. trail," Cole said. "There will be signage on everything and there will be plazas set up with benches once it's all done."

Upon completion the trail will connect a paved loop around the Willow Creek Golf Course, run along the north and west edge of Le Mars following the Floyd River for much of the way. It then heads behind Wal-Mart and along Holton Drive before dipping over to run along Business 75. From there, it heads west on 195th Street, then south on Keystone Avenue out to the Wells' Dairy Corporate Campus southwest of the city.

Total length of the completed recreation trail will vary because of the loops, twists and turns.

"If you were to take the longest route it would be about 9 miles, if you were to take the shortest route, it would be probably about 7," said Gary Cook, assistant to the city engineer.

Wayne Marty, a member of the Plymouth County Cyclists club, encourages people to ride bikes as a form of exercise and a fuel savings.

He sees the trail as a positive for the city.

"I rode the other day for a bit and I bet we met eight or nine groups along the way," Marty said. "I think it's a tremendous asset for recreation."