Trail users are now exploring the six miles of new concrete surface on the Raccoon River Valley Trail between Panora and Yale. The section is not officially open yet, as the contractors still have some minor finishing work to do, but the barricades are down and people are now having their first experiences on it. Our own experience there? It’s so smooth and nice, you’ll swear it’s a mile shorter now between the two towns! In these three photos, you see the beautifully landscaped new trailhead sign in Panora, right on Iowa Highway 44; you see the fantastic canopy of trees over the new concrete trail between Panora and Yale, and then we show you the spot on the south edge of Yale where the new concrete meets the asphalt. The new surface is a $945,000 nearly-completed project paid for by the federal government’s economic stimulus program.

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