Iowa City Today

The Coralville City Council discussed plans for improved pedestrian route systems during a meeting held on April 11.

The Morrison Creek Drainageway Project involves a trail connection over the drainageway that will connect several portions of the city to other existing trails. The crossing will be placed north of 8th St., and Coralville is working alongside the local school district to add a trail line along the southern edge of their football field, cutting through the crossing area and moving up an added sidewalk that connects to the trail along the southern border of Applewood.

The Council received two bids for the proposed project, which City staff reported amounted to $93,398 for the higher bid and $86,000 for the lower one. The lower bid is fairly close to the engineers' estimated cost of $84,314. Partial funding for the project would come from $29,000 in the projects area of the general fund that the Council had already reserved for the plan. The rest of the money would come from the City Trails Fund, which derives from hotel and motel tax revenue. City staff members are recommending that the contract be awarded to J. Harding Inc., which proposed the lower bid. If started soon, construction of the project could be completed by July 7, which would meet the city's goal of having the trail usable during their July 28 RAGBRAI celebration.

Coralville Parks and Recreation Director Sherri Proud, who is leading the project, told the Council that her department chose a lower-cost method of creating the crossing and that they have plans to create a trail section in the future that runs along the Morrison Creek Drainageway down to Morrison Park at 8th St. The move is expected to connect more areas of the city by pedestrian-friendly methods.

"Instead of going with a bridge which was substantially more costly, we went with three RCP or culvert tubes through the drainage way, and then the trail will actually sit on top," Proud said. "So, there could be times when water passes over that and it will be signed appropriately to not enter the area if it does. But we're pretty confident this drainageway doesn't run a lot of water, we're pretty confident that will be rare."

The Council approved the awarding of the bid to J. Harding Inc., voicing their excitement about the project and increased walkways.