Linn County Trails Association (LCTA) is blessed to have many members who have supported the organization for years with annual contributions. During a typical year, membership contributions will normally cover our low operating costs, plus add a few thousand dollars to our Trails Development Fund.
For several years, we’ve conducted an annual Fall Fundraiser — a direct-mail campaign asking for additional contributions. We’ve been putting these gifts to great use. Last year we proudly announced we had given our organization’s millionth dollar to trails in Linn County. About a quarter of that, or $280,000, has gone to support trails efforts in the past three years:
- $750 to Linn County for paving the Cedar Valley Nature Trail (2020)
- $25,000 to LAMBA for a single track trail extension near the Sac & Fox trail (2020)
- $50,000 to Connect CR/Cedar Lake and the Alliant LightLine™ bridge (2019–20)
- $5,000 to the Corridor MPO for helmets and trail safety education (2019)
- $25,000 to Friends of Linn County Conservation Board for the trail through Morgan Creek Park (2019)
- $900 to the City of Cedar Rapids to distribute bike lights to at-need riders (2018)
- $100,000 to Linn County for the design of Hwy. 100 Trail Phase A (2018)
- $75,000 to the City of Cedar Rapids for the Lindale (Grant Wood) Trail connection to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail (2018)
In Fall of 2020 we introduced a Capital Campaign to bolster our Trails Development Fund. At the time, we set our goal at collecting $200,000 to put toward future trail projects. So far, we have reached just over 35% of that goal.
This year, the LCTA Board of Directors voted to expand and extend our Capital Campaign fundraiser to $250,000, and earmark money received for three projects. We have reached out to our partner jurisdictions to learn how grants made possible through donations from our members could help accelerate trails projects in Linn County in the immediate future. The three projects on these pages are the result of those conversations.
From securing the right-of-way for the Grant Wood Trail when the railroad was abandoned, to making more than $300,000 in continued investments in the corridor, LCTA has a long history of supporting the Grant Wood Trail. By investing $100,000 in the next phase of trail development, LCTA’s support will help to fill the trail’s first “missing link.”
Money raised will support Linn County’s efforts to build an off-street trail connecting between Oxley Road and Creekside Road and to extend the trail’s hard surface from Waldo’s Rock Park to Paralta Road.
The 4th Street Trail will extend the Cedar Valley Nature Trail from where it stops at 7th Avenue in downtown Cedar Rapids to the future Alliant Energy LightLine™ bridge over the Cedar River. The next phase of the project in the planning stage starts at 9th Avenue SE near the railroad tracks and continues south.
By investing $100,000 in this project, LCTA’s support could accelerate this project by a manner of several years. The trail will connect a key missing link in the downtown trails system, and provide improved navigation for the American Discover Trail and Great American Rail-Trail through downtown Cedar Rapids.
Marion’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee has identified the Lucore Road Bridge over Indian Creek project as a key safety upgrade for trail users in the growing community’s northeast. In its current state, Lucore Road trail users must leave the trail and enter a busy roadway to cross over Indian Creek. When Lucore Road was first built, funds were never set aside for a pedestrian trail bridge. As Marion continues to grow, this trail’s increased use has made this project an urgent need.
By investing $50,000 in this project, LCTA’s support can help improve safety for trail users in this area and improve connections to the existing and future trail network in Marion.
LCTA has leveraged your gifts to accelerate trails projects, provide important match funds to secure grants, and work with local jurisdictions to prioritize the development of a system of connected trails in Linn County.
Please consider a gift to our Capital Campaign in any amount. Your generosity can help us continue to blaze new trails for years to come!