POLK COUNTY, Iowa– A potential 12-mile recreational trail could stretch from Des Moines to Grimes as city leaders look to transform an abandoned railway into a public hiking and biking trail.
The “Grimes Line” could swap steel wheels for bicycle spokes after Norfolk Southern Railway filed notice with the federal government last month that it plans to abandon the stretch of track, which reportedly parallels several hundred parcels of private land.
The rail line stretches 12.2 miles across parts of Des Moines, Windsor Heights, West Des Moines, Urbandale and Grimes.
Officials in those cities have collectively petitioned the government to convert the corridor into a public hiking and biking trail, according to the Business Journal…