First phase of PlyWood Trail project now open to the public

Yahoo

12-03-2025

MERRILL, Iowa (KCAU) — With warmer weather coming up, many residents are going to be wanting to spend it outside. And what better way to spend it then with a bike ride on the PlyWood Trail?
Officials with the project discussed what their expectations are for this 18-mile trail.
'We're excited to have it open for all types of recreational use,' executive director Ryan Schaap said. 'Biking, running, walking, and anything that people want to do. I think we're going to have a great year with the trail open this spring.'
Phase 1 of the PlyWood Trail, which connects Merrill to Le Mars, is nearing completion. Ryan Schaap says there's just a few minor projects left to finish up.
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'We have some things that were caused by weather and other circumstances that we need to take care of this spring,' Schaap said. 'So we'll have a few brief periods of time where we'll have contractors out working on the trail. But other than that, it's going to be open.'
This phase of the PlyWood Trail project was on track to be completed last year, but the June flooding caused leaders to shift focus.
'When the flooding happened, you know, several other areas in our community took priority, especially for the Department of Transportation and different contractors or crews that were working on things,' Schaap said. 'We just decided that the trail work was important to be put on the backburner for a few moments so that those suffering in our communities could be taken care of.'
Merrill Mayor Bruce Norgaard hopes the trail will provide safer recreational opportunities.
'I would rather see people on the bike trail than see them riding on the sides of the highway like Highway 12,' he said. 'Highway 12 has always seemed kind of dangerous to me for a bicycle because there are so many hills and there's so many blind curves. And with the falling rock stuff along there and stuff, you never know what you're going to run into. And there's a lot of truck traffic on Highway 12, so maybe they'll take the bike trail and ride clear to Le Mars. Who knows?'
Norgaard also wants the trail to bring in new people to Merrill.
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'I think there will be quite a few people going back and forth between Le Mars, and we've got an Italian restaurant here in town,' he said. 'A lot of people come down here, you can walk in, they don't care what you wear. They don't have a dress code, so to speak, so I think we'll have a lot of people coming down to have some.'
Schaap says they're getting ready to start Phase 3, which will connect Sioux City to Hinton.
'We'll have crews out there starting work again here in the spring,' he said. 'Expect… substantial completion of the construction in 2025, and we hope to have that portion of the trail between Sioux City and Hinton open in early 2026. We've had really, really great support from local businesses, local communities from Phase 1 and for Phase 3, and we're very thankful for the community support we've had so far.'
Officials with the project have applied for a $10 million grant to start the final phase of the trail, which would go from Hinton to Merrill.
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