Construction began on the Prairie Spirit Trail extension Tuesday as crews began applying asphalt along the old rail corridor in west Iola.
The construction should not affect traffic since the path has few intersections with Iola streets. The work should progress quickly.
“Hopefully we will be finished by (tonight), or at the latest Thursday morning,” said Mark Houser, assistant county counselor with Schwab-Eaton.
Asphalt, when first laid down, is roughly 340 degrees and must be rolled multiple times to reach its necessary compactness. “We have to test how many times we will need to roll asphalt on over the trail,” Houser said.
“Usually we have to do it three times, but sometimes that is not enough,” Terry Diksen with Mission Construction said. “The asphalt has to be really tight.”
Delays pushed the asphalt portion back a day..
The trail paving extension will begin at the trail’s intersection with North State Street and end at Bruner Street at the north edge of Riverside Park.
Crews will not be paving all the way to Humboldt, which is how far the new bike extension goes.
