Think Iowa City presents Swisher Tract multi-use trail master plan to University Heights council

Think Iowa City consultants on June 10 presented a multi-use trail master plan for the Swisher Tract that would add walking and bike trails, a paved ADA-accessible loop and a small trailhead to connect about 36 acres of contiguous forested land near the University of Iowa.

Josh Schomburger, a Think Iowa City project lead, told the University Heights City Council the document is “really just, a vision and a plan, a proposed document.” He said the plan is advisory and that any construction or activation would be up to the city and residents.

The presentation by Ryan Anderson, a landscape architect with Bolton & Menk, and Ken Barker of Backyard Trails outlined two preliminary concepts and a preferred concept that blends elements of both. Anderson said the preferred plan includes about two miles of single-track trails and roughly a quarter mile of double-track or wider, accessible trail. “In our final concept, we have about 2 miles of single track, across the blue and the green, and then about a quarter mile of double track,” Anderson said.

Consultants said the combined forested area totals about 36 acres, of which roughly 12 acres in the…