Bid letting for Phase 2 of Kewash project set for June

With bid letting for Phase 2 of the Kewash Nature Trail set for June, the Washington County Conservation Board is moving ahead with a grant application to help cover some of the costs of the project.

At Thursday’s board meeting, Executive Director Zach Rozmus said that he plans to submit a $130,000 grant application to the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.

Phase 2 of the project involves reconstructing and paving 1.4 miles of the trail from Crooked Creek Bridge to the existing paved portion of the trail at Willow Pond.

The project includes regrading the trail’s existing lime surfacing to accommodate a 10-foot-wide concrete trail with grass shoulders on each side.

The estimated cost of the project is $550,000.

The conservation board received a $317,000 Transportation Alternatives Program grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation for the project. It received a $25,000 grant from the Wellmark Foundation.

The remaining money is expected to come out of the Conservation board’s capital projects fund.

“This would allow us to take less money out of our capital projects fund,” Rozmus told the board.

With the June bid letting, the project is expected to begin in August and continue until spring 2022.

Rozmus said that, during construction, the section of the trail that is under construction will be closed at both ends.