Ankeny secures $1M for new High Trestle Trail "experience park"

Driving the news: The Ankeny City Council approved $1 million for phase one of the project Monday.

Zoom in: That includes installing a glow trail, lighting, planting vegetation and prepping the area for more art installations.

• Construction will start this fall and is expected to finish in spring 2025, Derek Lord, the city's economic development director, tells Axios.

Zoom out: The nearly mile-long park will run alongside the trail from West 1st Street to South Ankeny Boulevard.

• It includes 14 acres of excess right of way that can be used for further development.
• A 2020 master plan outlines further artwork the city could install in the park, like giant animal sculptures, a track that plays sounds when stepped on and climbing-rope structures.

Reality check: Future installations are dependent on funding and have no timeline, Lord says.

• Phase 2 hasn't been determined, he says.

The intrigue: A 2020 survey showed that Ankeny residents liked the suburb because it was isolated from the rest of the metro, though they felt growing pains due to the increased population.

• Meanwhile, non-residents felt negative sentiments towards the suburb and considered it "insular," "plain" and "cookie cutter."

Yes, but: The one thing both residents and non-residents agreed on was their enjoyment of the High Trestle Trail.