GILBERTVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Portions of a popular Black Hawk County trail will remain closed as crews work to repair more than a dozen spots damaged last September by Cedar River flooding.
The damage includes a 150-yard section of the trail that was destroyed as well as other locations with craters, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (https://bit.ly/2mJ9Hav ) reported.
“The trail is closed and people shouldn’t be using this trail,” said Al Finke, south unit ranger for the conservation board. “We’ve closed it for their safety.”
An engineer is working on a construction contract and cost estimates for the repairs, which aren’t expected until June.
“At this point we do not have a timeline for a finished product,” said Mike Hendrickson, interim conservation director.
Black Hawk County Conservation officials plan to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine whether federal funds are available to pay for the project.
Black Hawk County was one of nearly 20 counties declared federal disaster areas after last fall’s flooding in which the Cedar River reached its second-highest crest ever. The designation permits federal assistance to repair damages to public infrastructure.
“We don’t have any idea yet whether FEMA will fund this or not,” Finke said. “We certainly don’t have money in our budget to do it.”
Finke said the plan to repair the trail would include mitigation efforts to prevent future damage. For example, trees along the trail could be removed and replaced with sod and a material that holds ground along the elevated trail in place.
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Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, https://www.wcfcourier.com
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