Recent additions to Ames’ trail system and unusually warm fall weather have made trips to campus and recreational exercise safer and more enjoyable.

During the past year, the city of Ames has come several steps closer to completing the Bicycle Master Plan, developed in 1990, which will eventually allow pedestrians and bicyclists to travel safely throughout Ames on trails, City Traffic Engineer Scott Logan said.

Commuter paths are being developed and improved along Ames’ major roads and a new recreational trail has been built, he said.

“We’ve added a lot of key links this year,” Logan said. “We’re getting our [trail] system to its mature state.”

One of these links is the Squaw Creek Greenbelt Trail, which connects Brookside and Stuart Smith Parks.

“Our goal was to connect the north and south sides of Ames by recreational trails,” said Parks Superintendent Kevin Shawgo. Now paths can be taken from Moore Park on the north side of Ames to the Research Park south of U.S. Highway 30.

Work on the trail began in September and was completed in October, but planning for it began three years ago when the city applied for a Resource Enhancement and Protection grant from the state, Shawgo said.

The $150,000 grant Ames received should cover the cost of the trail, he said, which is three-fourths of a mile long.

The 8-foot-wide asphalt trail is an extension of existing trails in the parks it connects.

The Brookside path begins at 13th Street and connects to the new trail near the Sixth Street bridge. It passes under the bridge and loops up to the Sixth Street trail.

The path continues through Elwood Pasture, which is owned by Iowa State, and crosses College Creek. Then it goes under the Lincoln Way bridge and joins the Stuart Smith path that runs to South Fourth Street.

“You don’t have to cross any streets because it goes under the bridges,” Shawgo said.

One avid biker, Jim Gregory, has noticed an increase in the usage of Ames’ trails recently, especially on the new recreational trails that run through parks.

Gregory, who co-owns Bikes at Work, 216 N. Hazel Ave., with his wife, Joan Stein, delivers newspapers, recycling materials and other items via bicycle on and near campus.

“It’s nice to be able to stay off the street and not have to concentrate on the traffic around you,” he said.

Overall, Gregory said, he is satisfied with Ames’ trail system, which he said has improved greatly since he started his business in 1991.

“There are some important links that haven’t been built yet, but they will be,” Gregory said.

Both the city and Iowa State have made efforts to build new trails where they’re needed and connect them to existing trails.

“The priority [this year] was to link outlying subdivisions,” Logan said.

Trails were built or extended along South Dakota Avenue, South Duff Avenue, Oakwood Road and East 13th Street, he said.

Many new construction projects included bike paths, Logan said. The path on the south side of Ontario Street was rebuilt this summer when the road was also rebuilt.

He said Iowa State has built two new paths that will be helpful to students. One is on Elwood Drive near the CyRide station and another borders South 16th Street near the Vet College.

Expanding Ames’ trail system is an ongoing project, Logan said. City staff members meet regularly with the Ames Bicycle User’s Group to get input on how the system should be improved, he said.

This group helped design the Bicycle Master Plan, a 20-year plan which is about halfway complete.

Ames has about 25 miles of trails, Logan said, and the distance is expected to double by the time the plan is complete.

The city also conducts surveys to find out what types of transportation improvements citizens want.

In the spring, the Squaw Creek bridge on South Duff Avenue will be widened so the paths north and south of it can be connected, Logan said.

City officials will begin construction on a path along Dayton Avenue in 2002.

The following year, one along East Lincoln Way will be built, he said.

Also in 2002, Shawgo said, two to three miles of recreational trails will be constructed around the two bodies of water at Hallett’s Quarry. After that, the city hopes to lay asphalt on an existing trail that begins near Carr Pool and runs north along the Skunk River.

The goal is to link this trail to the quarry path.

Gregory has been a member of the Bicycle User’s Group for several years. In the past, he said, Ames had to compete with other cities for trail-funding grants, but since the population topped 50,000 in 2000, the city will now receive $75,000 each year from the federal government for trails.

In addition to this, the city has pledged to budget $150,000 annually for trails, Gregory said. A large portion of this money comes from the local-option sales tax.

Trails are also financed by a road-use tax from gas sales, city bike license fees and developers, Logan said.

With this amount of funding, Gregory said, Ames will spend $4.50 per year on new bike facilities for each resident.

Shawgo said the trails will progress as funding allows.

“Ames has some excellent trails,” he said.

“They’re kind of fun to put in.”