A resolution for the proposed in-town portion of the High Trestle Trail connector was tabled Monday night after opinions on the Perry City Council divided over alternative routes for the recreational pathway.
Whichever route is eventually chosen, it will connect the western end of the High Trestle Trail in Wiese Park to the Raccoon River Valley Trail in Perry’s downtown.
The proposed route that was put before the council Monday — here called the “Willis route” for short — is an off-street route that would see the High Trestle Trail proceed southward from Wiese Park along the sidewalk on the east side of Eighth Street and then westward along the sidewalk on the south side of Willis Avenue to Third Street.
New sidewalk construction would then allow the trail to jog one block southward to Otley Avenue and one block westward to Second Street, where it would join the RRVT about two blocks from the trailhead.
The alternative route — here called the “Second route” for short — is an on-street route that would proceed westward along Bateman Street from Wiese Park and then southward along Second Street, passing through the downtown business district and past the Hotel Pattee and meeting the RRVT at the Caboose Park trailhead.
After Perry City Council member Barb Wolling moved approval of the Willis route, and council member Vicki Klein seconded Wolling’s motion, council member Jeremy Mahler voiced his opposition to the measure.
“I’m going to go on public record for maybe the 1,000th time and say that I don’t agree with this,” said Mahler, who owns a bar on Second Street. “It is a great mistake for us not to make the primary path through our business district.”
Mahler has experience with a bike-trail business, having successfully operated the Nineteen14 bar in Minburn for six years. He said that a “primary path” that does not pass through the downtown retail core or run past the Hotel Pattee would be “an opportunity missed, a horrible opportunity missed. I’ve been saying this since before I owned a business is Perry. I thought this was a bad idea. I just want to go on record to say that I don’t support it still.”
Perry Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lynsi Pasutti, who also owns a retail business in downtown Perry, said she was “extremely disappointed with the lack of communication and collaboration with community partners regarding the designated route of the connector trail.”
She said that Perry has “a great opportunity to not only be the connection of these two amazing trails but also to be the most bike-friendly, easy-to-navigate and hospitable community on either trail,” but the opportunity is in jeopardy because of the overdue decision on a connector route.
According to the Perry City Hall, the proposed Willis route emerged from discussions the city conducted with “city staff, engineers, planners, community members and biking community members.”
Perry City Manager Sven Peterson said the Willis route “is the safest and most effective way” from “a safety perspective and just rideability.” He said an off-street route would also reduce the likelihood of accidents and so limit the city’s legal liability, and the Willis route would “strike the balance between the leisure riders and more avid cyclists.”
Perry Parks and Recreation Director John Anderson noted the county’s portion of the High Trestle Trail connector will be completed by August, bringing an estimated 30,000 additional bike riders to Perry, so the city needs to get a route in place soon.
“We have to identify the trail,” Anderson said. “We have to sign the trail. We have to have a safe way through town. Whether you like it or not, it has to happen, I would say, sooner than now. An alternate route is doable in the future. I just think, for the time being, I would urge everybody to consider getting something established so that we have time to identify the route, sign the route and have it through town.”
Perry City Council member Chuck Schott urged the council to table the motion until its May 6 meeting, by which time the council members can more fully inform themselves on the issue, he said.
“It’s a big deal,” Schott said. “I personally would like to have more time, more discussion, more insight before we make a decision. Let us all investigate and think and study and discuss and come back to it two weeks from now or four weeks from now with perhaps an enlightened perspective or a better understanding.”
The council accepted Schott’s recommendation and voted unanimously to table the resolution until its next meeting. First ward council member Joseph Shelly was absent.
In other business, Schott praised the Frog Creek enhancements currently underway from Pattee Park to Park Street.
“I’m so tickled with what we’re doing down in Frog Creek in Pattee Park,” Schott said, saying the creek now looks “user friendly and inviting for anybody who wants to spend a little time there.”
