OTTUMWA —
The Army Corps of Engineers has its eyes on Wapello County’s trails system to potentially link it to other trails throughout the state.
The Army Corps of Engineers is looking at a regional trail system within Iowa, said City Administrator Joe Helfenberger, “by working with each of the local cities and counties.”
Helfenberger said he and Parks Director Gene Rathje met with an Army Corps representative recently, “and that’s as far as it’s gone,” Rathje said.
“Just like our Wapello County Trails Council is interested in connecting with Fairfield, maybe we could have a large regional trail network in the future,” Helfenberger said.
The city shared its plans with the Army Corps of what has been done on the trails here so far and what the council plans to do, in order to combine with the Army Corps’s overall coordinated regional plan.
“Right now it’s all just a dream,” Rathje said. “It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of money to make it happen. It’s not even in the planning stages yet; we’re just brainstorming.”
It’s now up to the Army Corps to take action, Rathje said.
Connecting the county’s trails to other trail systems in the region would promote a high quality of life in southeast Iowa and would further Ottumwa’s efforts to be designated as a Blue Zones demonstration site, Helfenberger said.
“Ideally they want to extend the trail all the way from Lake Red Rock, through Ottumwa, down through Eldon and connect with Fairfield,” Rathje said.
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Courier file photo
Dreaming of a regional trails network
City meets with Army Corps of Engineers to begin brainstorming
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