“I’m excited to see all the bikes and all the people running on the trail,” Webster County Supervisor Niki Conrad said Thursday.

The completion of that trail was celebrated Thursday at its northern endpoint in Badger. Residents of that community joined Webster County and Fort Dodge officials along with the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance Ambassadors for a ribbon cutting, followed by refreshments provided by the Badger Lions Club and the Friends of Webster County Conservation.

“This is a great addition to our community,” Badger Mayor Chris Wendell said. “Thank you to everybody involved.”

The trail stretches about six miles between 170th Street on the north side of Fort Dodge to Second Avenue Southeast on the south side of Badger.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
This bridge over a drainage ditch is part of the new trail linking Fort Dodge and Badger. It is along Webster County Road P59, north of Soldier Creek Winery.

It is a 10-foot-wide concrete trail that is parallel to Paragon Avenue/Webster County Road P59.

Its roughly $4 million cost was covered by a Webster County bond issue and COVID-19 relief money.

Wicks Construction, of Decorah, was the general contractor.

Work on the trail wrapped up last month. Its completion expands the local trail system to about 35 miles.

Conrad said that former Webster County Supervisor Keith Dencklau “really championed this project for years.”

She thanked Craig and Lori Gascho, Ron Pederson and the Badger city government for donating land for the project.

She also thanked Dennis and Brenda Plain, Thomas Schmoker, the Secor family, the Van Diest family and Harvey Family Farms for selling land for the project.

The effort to expand the trail system began in 2006, according to Randy Kuhlman, who was a member of that initial trail planning effort.

At that time, Fort Dodge basically had the nature trail near Snell-Crawford Park on Williams Drive. Now, it is possible to go from Iowa Central Community College on the west side of Fort Dodge all the way to Badger entirely on trails.

“This is a great example of communities working together to get things done,” Kuhlman said Thursday. “There’s still more trails to come.”

County Supervisor Austin Hayek said the cooperation that made the new trail section possible is “the gold standard for the state of Iowa.”

“I’m just humbled and thankful for all of those folks,” he said.