Wapsi Trail Project awarded, future phases discussed

     The progression of the Wapsi Trail Project in Anamosa and Jones County was the topic of discussion during the May 1 Jones County Supervisor meeting.

     County Engineer Derek Snead shared the bids with the board, with the lowest from Boomerang (formerly Ricklefs) for $996,965.30. This is a bid for the PCC sidewalk and trail along Shaw Road.

     “We’re thrilled with a Jones County company coming in as the low bid,” said Kris Gobeli, a representative on the trail committee. She said the bid came in at 93 percent of what the committee and engineer projected.

     The project has been the recipient of several large grants, as well as private donations to complete phase one of the project.

     “We’re not taking money from Secondary Roads,” Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach clarified. “This is a completely different funding stream.”

     The Shaw Road repaving project, Snead said, is split between Secondary Roads and the City of Anamosa.

     Along the same lines, Snead said his office is aggressively working to design the Shaw Road project, which also calls for the replacement of two structures. With the proposed trail ending before one of the structures, he asked the supervisors and the committee members present where the trail project would go from here?

     “We need to know your future plans for the trail,” he said in terms of whether Snead’s office needs to incorporate the trail into the road project. “We need to know where the trail is going.”

     Snead said the condition of Shaw Road is not getting any better and is in need of replacement soon.

     “We’re proceeding with our project and plan to design it this fall or winter, with a letting in the spring,” he added. “We’re getting the ball rolling.”

     Gobeli said hearing that the county is pushing for the Shaw Road project is news to them. Trail committee member Brad Hatcher said part of the holdup on phase two is the DNR’s portion of the trail into Wapsipinicon State Park. He said the DNR is engineering their own portion, and have been assured that there would be funding in place this coming year.

     “Our goal is to get phase one done and we’re committed to keeping the project moving forward,” said committee member Dusty Embree. She said there is more grant funding available for the next phase (or phases, if the project needs to be split up even further). “This is a huge project for Jones County, and we want to make sure it continues.”

     She said they need to put together preliminary costs of the rest of the trail before putting plans in place.

     Snead said from a financial standpoint, it makes more sense to incorporate the trail design with the road design, assuming the trail would continue down Shaw Road.

     “We don’t want to design a road and have the county come back saying we need to add a trail,” said Snead.

     The board of supervisors and the trail committee were on board with that plan. “We need to work hand-in-hand,” suggested Embree of everyone involved.