Norwalk Great Western Trail Receives ACEC-IA Excellence Award 

Norwalk Great Western Trail Receives ACEC-IA Excellence Award 

The American Council of Engineering Companies of Iowa honored the City of Norwalk’s Great Western Trail Connection project with an Engineering Achievement Award at their Engineering Excellence Banquet on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. This award recognizes engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement, and value. Projects from across the State of Iowa are rated on uniqueness and/or innovative application of new or existing techniques; future value to the engineering profession and public perception; social, economic, and sustainable development considerations; complexity; and successful fulfillment of client/owner needs.   

The City of Norwalk is located just east of the Great Western Trail, a major regional biking trail. With no direct connection, the city prioritized realizing a trail connection for years. With budgeting in place and additional funding from other resources obtained for future phases of the connection, funding became available to complete the connection in phases.  

The project is approximately two miles of trail along two existing roadways with one water body crossing. With one of the roadways expected to be widened in the future, Bolton & Menk designed a trail to minimize future impact from roadway widening, navigate steep terrain, and traverse one water body with a prefabricated pedestrian bridge. 

The new Great Western Trail connection offers a way for people to enjoy the outdoors and live a healthy and active lifestyle. The trail also allows users to access the City of Norwalk and all it has to offer, whether it be their parks, shops, or restaurants. Once all phases are complete, the City of Norwalk’s residents and visitors can enjoy a 10-foot-wide trail connection to the Great Western Trail along with connections to other trails in development. 

Learn more about how we highlight the importance of multimodal transportation, here!  

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