Nishna Valley Trails President Dave Chase has announced the City of Atlantic was awarded a REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection Fund) grant amounting to $95,810, for the construction of a recreational trail in the northern part of the City connecting the east side of the Schildberg Quarry Recreation Area with the Atlantic Municipal Utilities well-field site east of Olive Street and the Atlantic Ball field complex. Both the Quarry and the well-head site have currently existing trail system.

The trail has been designated as “The Troublesome Creek Connector Trail”, taking the name of the stream that will need to be crossed by a 162 foot single span pedestrian bridge. Construction costs for the trail are estimated at $550,000, with the bridge comprising a large part of those costs. Other grants are being applied for, and local fundraising activities have commenced. Chase said “The engineering work and all necessary permits and easements have been obtained and we hope to see construction later in the summer of next year.”

The award, approved by the Iowa Natural Resources Commission last week, was based on an application filed on the City’s behalf by Nishna Valley Trails, Inc. (NVT). The Atlantic City Council gave its blessing to the application at its August 6th meeting.

Nishna Valley Trails, Inc. is a non-profit recreational trails advocacy group that has been active in the development of trails in the Cass and Audubon County areas since the early 1990s. Chase said “Our application was one of eight funded out of 27 applications filed by cities our size, so you can see that the process is highly competitive.”

Chase also said this project will help with the goal of connecting the T-Bone Trail to the City of Atlantic resulting in a 25 mile trail between Atlantic and Audubon, most of it on the old abandoned Iowa Interstate railroad bed. 20 paved miles have already been completed and the trail has been designated as a portion of the cross-country American Discovery Trail.