COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Council Bluffs is creating options: options for commuting and options for transportation.
"Today we're here to break ground on a new central bicycle and pedestrian corridor, that will connect the city's perimeter bike trails and city residents living near Broadway will now have safer access to our trail system much nearer to where they live," Mayor Matt Walsh said.
The trail will run along 1st Avenue from 16th Street to 35th Street — giving people better access to River's Edge and West Broadway.
"What this provides is a safe and dedicated route for pedestrians to get to and from where they want to go," Community Development Director Brandon Garrett said. "And we're also just a block off from our bus route, you can use this to get from your home and within the neighborhood and easily access the bus route."
The trail will provide a unique experience.
"We will accommodate multiple types of users, walkers, bikers, joggers, scooters, folks in wheelchairs and power chairs, walkers...all types of users and uses," Garrett said.
Garrett is making a promise: this will be the premier trail in the metro area.
"What we were really missing was that critical link between downtown Omaha and downtown Council Bluffs... so it cuts right through the heart of many of our neighborhoods," Garrett said.
A link — he said — that is necessary for mind, body and soul.
Construction on phase one has begun — it's expected to be done in the fall of 2021.
Phase two is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022.
The project is being funding by the City’s Capital Improvement Program, the Iowa West Foundation, and other grants.
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