PANORA, Iowa, August 13, 2007 – A formal re-opening of the five miles of the Raccoon River Valley Trail between Linden and here — closed since early July for concrete resurfacing — has been set for Saturday, August 18, at 10 a.m.

Joe Hanner, director of the Guthrie County Conservation Board, said a ribbon-cutting will be held on the RRVT in Panora, adjacent to P.J.’s Drive-In restaurant on East Highway 44, complete with free ice cream cones from P.J.’s. 

Members of the Raccoon Valley Riders bicycle club will then host a 10-mile round-trip bike ride to Linden and back to Panora on the new, 8-foot wide concrete surface.

The last tasks are being completed this week on the $407,977 resurfacing project.

Meanwhile, fundraising is now also underway to help with resurfacing of the RRVT from Panora north to Yale, a distance of about six miles. That project is to be undertaken whenever sufficient funds are accumulated from private, corporate and organizational donations and from government grants.

The asphalt surface on the 11-mile section of the RRVT in Guthrie County dated to the trail’s opening in 1989.  Normal life for asphalt trail surfaces is considered to be about 10 to 12 years old.  The normal life of concrete trail surfaces is expected to be significantly longer.

Earlier stories about the resurfacing project can be found in the archives of the RRVT News on this Internet site.

Article Published: 08-13-2007