New trail linking Des Moines to Carlisle, Indianola to be named after RAGBRAI founders
Des Moines is poised to fill a gap in its trail system, linking it to two southeast neighbors with a trail named for RAGBRAI's founders.
City Council members on Monday approved plans and awarded a construction bid for a $3.9 million paved connection from the Easter Lake Spine Trail in Des Moines to the City of Carlisle Nature Trail. The segment of the trail will be named for late Des Moines Register staffers John Karras and Don Kaul, who a city resolution bestowing the honor said were "collectively instrumental in initiating and promoting the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa."
City Parks and Recreation Director Ben Page said the trail is one of the last missing segments of the wider central Iowa trail network. By connecting to Carlisle, it also will link the system to Indianola via the existing Summerset Trail between the two cities.
"And for them, it's great because anybody on the south side that lives in the city limits can now bike if they want to catch an Iowa Cubs game or go to the botanical gardens," Page told the Des Moines Register. "It just adds so many more people to our trails that didn't have access today."
With the completion of the connector, Indianola will become one of the southernmost points on a dedicated trail system that extends as far as Jefferson.
Also during the Monday's meeting:
Page said McHenry and Sheridan parks on the city's west and east sides, respectively, will get new playgrounds, to be built by volunteers.
Council members approved $400,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for a 90-unit apartment complex housing low-income people ages 62 and older next to the Southridge Mall on Des Moines' south side.
The future Karras-Kaul Connector Trail will link Carlisle, Indianola to trail system
The new trail segment will be 10 feet wide and about 3 miles long, according to a council memo. Page estimated it will take about 1½ years to complete after Rockwell City-based contractor Howrey Construction Inc. starts work this spring.
The city secured $2 million in state and federal grant funding for the project, the memo said.
Council members Carl Voss and Joe Gatto proposed naming the new segment the Karras-Kaul Connector Trail. Kaul died in 2018 and Karras in 2021. The ride they founded marks its 50th year this summer.
More: Varsity Cinema hosts premiere of 'Shift: The RAGBRAI Documentary' for sold-out crowd
"I think it's a wonderful tribute to the two gentlemen who created RAGBRAI," Page said, noting that users of the city's trails logged more than 1.7 million trail trips in 2022. "Des Moines would argue this — that recreational trails weren't as packed before we got people using them from the cyclist perspective. As RAGBRAI becomes more popular so does our trail system."
Volunteers will build new playgrounds for McHenry and Sheridan parks
The new playgrounds at McHenry Park, at 1012 Oak Park Ave., and Sheridan Park, at 4000 Hull Ave., will be installed entirely by volunteers after earthwork and storm sewer improvements, Page said.
He said the volunteer construction program, overseen by the Parks and Recreation Department, not only saves the city from paying a contractor, allowing it to afford larger playgrounds, but incentivizes community members to take better care of their local parks.
Page said families in the neighborhoods also were asked to vote for their favorite playground color schemes on social media.
At McHenry Park, the new installations will include accessible playground equipment for children in two age groups: 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. At Sheridan Park, the existing play structure will be removed to make way for new equipment with an accessible ramp.
Construction likely will start in the fall, Page said.
Affordable senior housing complex near Southridge Mall gets ARPA funds
The three-story building senior housing complex, on 4.4 acres at 1111 East Army Post Road on the west edge of Southridge Mall, will occupy the former site of a Montgomery Ward department store.
Des Moines' Urban Design Review Board gave preliminary approval for the $13.7 million development in October. The ARPA funding approved Monday night will be allocated after the project is completed, according to a council memo.
The development, as well as a proposed store and warehouse in the mall's former Younkers department store space, is part of a larger Southridge Master Conceptual Development Plan, according to the memo.
Units at the complex will be reserved for tenants earning 50% or less of the area median income, which in 2022 was $34,500 for a single person and $39,400 a couple, according to data from the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.
Indiana-based AHEPA National Housing Corp. will own and manage the building. AHEPA is a national developer of low-income senior housing with four Iowa projects: three in Ankeny and one in Johnston.
Groundbreaking for the project is set for this spring, with completion in 2024.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Planned trail segment linking Carlisle, Indianola to be named after RAGBRAI founders
