A new trail that will cross through Gowrie is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The Webster County Board of Supervisors awarded a contract for the roughly 7,200 foot long trail Tuesday morning.

Howrey Construction, of Rockwell City, was hired to do the work at a cost of $582,898.

That price is 30 percent less than the engineer’s estimated cost for the project, according to Matt Cosgrove, director of Webster County Conservation.

The trail will begin at the intersection of Main Street and Fairbanks Avenue on the city’s northwest side and extend to a spot near the firehouse at the east end of Main Street. It will be a 10-foot wide paved trail.

The work is scheduled to be done by Dec. 20.

Other bidders for the work were Caliber Construction LLC, Adair ($644,492.54); Wicks Construction, Decorah ($648,867.91); Castor Construction, Fort Dodge, ($671,371.27); OEL Construction, Steamboat Rock ($678,188.30); and TK Concrete, Pella ($728,623).

Also on Tuesday, the supervisors prepared for an upcoming closure of part of Iowa Highway 7 by voting to allow Webster County Road P29 to be used as a detour.

The state highway will be closed between Webster County Road P29 and U.S. Highway 169 from June 24 to June 29, according to an Iowa Department of Transportation notice sent to the county.

That closure will be necessary due to work on a railroad crossing near the ag industrial park called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation.