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The Cedar Valley Trails-911 Signs Project

The objective of the Cedar Valley Trails-911 Signs Project is the design and implementation of a comprehensive method to georeference trail locations for emergency response and asset management purposes. The Cedar Valley Trail System and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail encompass 95 miles of paved trail within Black Hawk County Iowa. This recreational trail system serves over 200,000 trail users annually. Using GIS software and local GIS data, a new map grid system was devised to communicate location to within one-tenth of one square mile. Using this scheme of two numbers, one letter, and two numbers (example 22 C 99) provides a short ID number that is meaningful on both computer and printed maps. Following approval of the grid, a new 911-sign, with "911" clearly visible, was designed and approved. Many permanent features exist along the trail today. A GPS trail survey was conducted by Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments (Nov., 2004) to collect locations and assets of benches, shelters, signs and other trail-side features. A photograph of each feature was taken for quality control purposes. The new 911 signs, with the specific ID number for location reference, are attached to the georeferenced trail features. The 911-sign location data is integrated into the Black Hawk Consolidated Public Safety Dispatch Center's system to enable dispatchers to "see" the location on the 911 GIS computer map. Thus, the 911-Signs Project provides a practical solution to location communication in emergency situations and serves as an asset inventory of all features along this transportation corridor. The 911-Signs Project is a multi-agency cooperative project. Project funding comes from the Cedar Trails Partnership grant and in-kind local donations.