<Photos Courtesy of Washington County Conservation Board>

Residents in southeast Iowa can now enjoy a newly paved portion of the Kewash Nature Trail.

Washington County Conservation announced Friday that phase two paving has been completed on a 1.41 mile portion of the trail. In partnership with Delong Construction, work began on August 16th to pick up where phase one left off in 2018. The newly paved portion spans west from Willow Pond to the Crooked Creek Bridge. Project completion was initially forecasted for 2022, but with warmer weather and little rain, work was finished ahead of schedule. Total cost for phase two came in around $546,000. Conservation received nearly $450,000 in grants from the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), Wellmark Foundation, and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation for the project.