Systemic Condition Analysis and Management for Multi-Use Trails

Over the past five years, the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department has been collecting and compiling data about the City’s paved multi-use trail system and trail management practices utilized by their peer cities to identify their trail system’s current needs and explore strategies to address documented issues to improve one of their department’s most highly desired and utilized assets. They utilized what was learned to inform their modernized approaches to trail system management including paving preventative maintenance and preservation practices, updated standards for new trail development, approaches to addressing deferred maintenance, and appropriate funding allocation for long-term maintenance and operational staffing. As one of the largest assets of their Parks and Recreation Department in terms of geography and investment, there is a critical need for cyclical assessment and repair to keep up with the usage and level of service demands from the public with a limited budget. While their philosophical goal is to do more with limited budgets and the constraints of modern-day operations, their technical goal is to achieve the full serviceable lifespan of a given trail’s paving system and to provide constant maintenance needed to achieve that goal.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand cost-effective methods for auditing a moderate-sized multi-use trail network.
• Understand the importance of asphalt preventative maintenance and preservation practices in order to achieve a given trail's full serviceable lifespan.
• Understand the concept of multiuse trails as a living system that requires long-term planning, active management, and regular repairs.
• Learn methods for identifying operational needs for a multiuse trail system.

Trail Competencies

• Project Planning and Design
• • Compliance and Permitting

Relevant Trail Types

General. All trail types are relevant.