PROGRESS: Plans for Sioux City trail projects abound in 2018

City staff also expect the year to bring the completion of a trio of additional trail connection projects that will continue to grow the Sioux City's trail offerings. 

Parks and Recreation Director Matt Salvatore said the city is hoping for a summer start to work on the riverfront trail connection, which will span the 1.5-mile gap between the Chautauqua Park and Chris Larsen Park trails.

When complete, the trail link will establish 12 miles of continuous trail along the Missouri River.

The project was originally slated to begin in late fall 2017, but hit a snag as the city awaited permit approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Salvatore said the city is now working with the corps to receive the permit approval. If work starts this summer, the project will likely carry over into next year.

"It's such a big project, I'd be surprised if we would get it completed in one year," Salvatore said.  

The project will cost an estimated $3.3 million. It has benefited from large grants from the nonprofit gaming group Missouri River Historical Development Board and from the Iowa Transportation Commission.

The city is also planning to finish work this year on a trio of trail connectors. Construction is expected to conclude in June on a nearly half-mile trail piece that will connect the Floyd River Trail to the Outerbelt Drive Trail, including a bridge crossing railroad tracks in Leeds. 

Work on a planned .18-mile trail that will connect to the west arm of the Outerbelt Drive Trail near the Clark Early Childhood Center could start in April and finish by the end of the summer. 

The second phase of the Big Sioux River Dike trail, which will extend from the Riverside Aquatic Center to Florence Avenue for seven-tenths of a mile along the riverfront, is set for bid in the spring. That project could also reach completion by the end of the summer. 

Other trail projects continue to be in the planning stages, including the PlyWood Trail, a proposed 16-mile trail in Woodbury and Plymouth counties, stretching from Sioux City to Le Mars.

Another trail project proposes to link Sioux City with Sergeant Bluff. Once fully complete, it would connect Baker Park in Sergeant Bluff to Sioux City's Singing Hills trail. The timeline for that project depends on funding.