Sweet Water Trail Project Connects Sites Along Tripoli Loop

The Sweet Water Bike Trail may start in a renovated bar-turned-welcome-center, but a $5,000 Ripple Effect planning grant to the northwest Iowa town of Tripoli really marked the beginning of this exciting community project. 

Butler Bremer Communications, located in Plainfield, Iowa, applied for the Ripple Effect grant, on behalf of the city of Tripoli, and provided $5,000 in matching funds to help pay engineering costs of the Sweet Water Trail project.  

Construction is currently underway on the Sweet Water Trail, a two-mile long connection between Tripoli and Sweet Marsh utilizing a former railroad bed, adjacent to a welcome center in the renovated Guppy’s gas station. Trail plans also include picnic areas and a new pocket park. 

When the trail is connected with portions of shared-road and sidewalk sections, it will loop around the city of Tripoli, connecting a popular bowling alley, the new Guppy's Market and Tripoli Community Schools, which are located on the south side of highway 93.

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