Bike Trail Planning for
Des Moines MPO, Iowa
Xiujian Xie
GIS Certificate Candidate
Outline
• Project Background
• Project Goal
• Literature Review
• Project Design
• Methodology
• Results
• Conclusion
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Project Background
• Inspiration: numerous trails in Aspen, CO
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Project Background
• More than 1,800 miles of biking trails
across Iowa State (Iowa DNR)
• Bicycling is one of the most popular outdoor
recreation activities in Iowa (Bowels et al., 2011).
• There is a rising demand for cycling in Iowa.
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Project Background
• Des Moines has the largest population across Iowa,
Des Moines MPO as the big community union in
development
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Project Background
Des Moines MPO (Metropolitan Planning
Organization):
• A regional transportation planning entity comprised
of local communities and transportation agencies in the
Des Moines, Iowa, metropolitan region.
• Used to describe the area where its members (16 cities; DART;
3 associate, non-voting cities) are located.
IOWA
City of Des Moines
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Project Background
• Natural Resources near Des Moines MPO:
The Lake Red Rock
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Project Background
Lake Red Rock Area
Lake Red Rock: The largest lake in Iowa
“Originally the city of Red Rock, Lake Red Rock, also referred to as Red
Rock Reservoir is a reservoir formed by Red Rock Dam on the Des Moines
River, about 55 miles southeast of the city of Des Moines, Iowa. ” (Wiki, 2015)
IOWA
City of Des Moines
Lake Red Rock
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Project Background
Lake Red Rock Sunset
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Photo Copyright: knoxvilleia.gov
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Project Background
An active piece of the Iowa
Interstate Railroad; will be
deactivated when no business
demand exists
Deactivated interstate
corridor; railbanked and
purchased by Jasper County;
no development so far
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Railroad deactivated, funding
has been being collecting to
purchase the corridor to be
transitioned into a trail
Developed by following
highways 14 and G28
*map provided by Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
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Spatial Question
Where are the locations for alternative
biking trail routes, based on environmental
conservation criteria, to connect Des Moines
MPO and the Lake Red Rock ?
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Literature Review
• The benefit of biking: social, economical, physical and
environmental benefits (Badland, et al., 2013;
Titze et al., 2013; Giles-Corti et al., 2010; Huy et al.,
2008; Bowels et al., 2011)
• Least cost path design for bike trails (Snyder et al., 2008;
Ferguson et al., 1998; Bagli et al., 2011)
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Literature Review
Trail criteria (Snyder et al., 2008):
Description
Objective
Water Bodies with 100 feet
buffers around
To reduce the likelihood of trail segments in these
areas and their associated riparian impacts
Wetland with 100 feet buffers
around
Public Roads with 100 feet
buffers around
Existing Trails with 0.6 mile
buffers around
Viewshed
To minimize human impacts to wetlands
Slope
Reflect bicycler’s preferences in slope; safety
concern
Minimize conflict with ownership
Land Ownership
Landcover
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To address safety issues
For safety and noise issues consideration
To address the importance of views from trails
To balance the natural resource utilization and its
conservation
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Project Design
GOAL:
To identify alternative biking trail routes,
based on environmental conservation criteria,
connecting Northeast Des Moines and the
Lake Red Rock.
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Project Design: Bike Trail Planning
Environmental
Conservation
Existing
Conceptual
trail
Alternative
trail
Same weights
Rivers
Wetland
Roads
Trails
Slope
Land cover
Comparing
Scenarios
Different weights
Rivers
Wetland
Roads
Trails
Slope
Land cover
25 scenarios
Suggested
trail
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Methodology
Preprocessing
• Set up Study Area
• Set up Criteria
• Acquire Necessary Data
Geoprocessing
• Data Analysis
• Obtain the Least Cost Paths
• Multiple Scenarios
Review and Compare
• Review the least cost paths
• Review paths in multiple scenarios
• Compare paths
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Study Area
Polk County
Jasper County
Marion County
N
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Study Area: the four sections
Altoona-Mitchellville
Prairie City-Monroe
Mitchellville-Prairie City
Monroe-Red Rock Lake
N
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The Spatial Environmental Conservation Criteria
Alternative biking trail routes are desired to be
located:
• Away from the rivers and wetlands;
• Away from roads and existing trails;
• Occupy conservation and recreation land;
• Where land cover is barren/fallow, and avoid
structures;
• In a required slope range.
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The Spatial Environmental Conservation Criteria
SCALE
1
(least cost)
2
3
4
5
(most cost)
100’ buffer of rivers
Areas outside
the buffer
NA
NA
NA
Areas within
the buffer
100’ buffer of
wetlands
Areas outside
the buffer
NA
NA
NA
Areas within
the buffer
0.6 mile buffer of
trails
Areas outside
the buffer
NA
Areas within the
buffer
NA
NA
100’ buffer of roads
Areas outside
the buffer
NA
Areas within the
buffer
NA
NA
Conservation &
recreation land
Areas within
the land
NA
Areas outside
the land
NA
NA
0 - 3 (%)
4 - 5 (%)
6 - 8 (%)
9 - 10 (%)
11 - 100(%)
Cut hay
Roads/
Impervious
Grass 1, Grass 2,
Corn, Soybeans,
Shadow/No
Data
Coniferous forest,
Deciduous short,
Deciduous
medium,
Deciduous tall
Water,
Wetland,
Structure
CRITERION
Slope
Land cover
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Barren/Fallow
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Data Acquired
CATEGORY
LAYER NAME
TYPE
SOURCE
Waterbodies
Rivers_50, Rivers_63, Rivers_77,
Waterbody, Major_lakes, Major_rivers
vector
Iowa DNR
Wetlands
Designated_wetlands_setback,
NWI_2002
vector
Iowa DNR
Public roads
Iowa_roads
vector
Iowa DNR
Existing trails
Trails, Trails_so_2012
vector
Iowa DNR, Iowa DOT
Slope
DEM_3M_I_77, DEM_3M_I_63,
DEM_3M_I_50
raster
Iowa DNR
Land
ownership
Cons_rec_lands_public,
Iowa_gap_stewardship, DNR_lands
vector
ISU Mirror of Iowa
DNR
Land cover
HRLC_2009_77, HRLC_2009_63,
HRLC_2009_50
raster
Iowa DNR
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Preset
• XY Coordinate System: NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_15N
• Projection: Transverse_Mercator
• Cell Size: 15m*15m
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Data Analysis: Steps
Applied to Rivers, Wetlands,
Trails, Roads,
Conservation & Recreation Lands
Clip
Buffer
Polygon to Raster
Reclassify
Weighted
Sum
Applied to Slope
Clip
Slope
Clip
Reclassify
Reclassify
Cost
Path
Cost
Distance
Applied to Landcover
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Data Analysis: GIS Model Builder
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The Least Cost Path
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Legend
N
Start point in Altoona
End point in Mitchellville
Existing Conceptual
Route
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0
0.5
1
2
3
Miles
24
4
Reclassified Layers
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
River with 100’ Buffer
Altoona
Wetlands with 100’ Buffer
Altoona
Mitchellville
Mitchellville
N
0 0.5 1
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2
3
4
Miles
25
Reclassified Layers
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Road with 100’ Buffer
Altoona
Conservation & Recreation Land
Altoona
Mitchellville
Mitchellville
N
0 0.5 1
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2
3
4
Miles
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Reclassified Layers
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Landcover
Trail with 0.6 Mile Buffer
Altoona
Altoona
Mitchellville
0 0.5 1
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2
Mitchellville
3
4
N
Miles
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Reclassified Layers
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Slope Surface
Altoona
Mitchellville
Slope: 0-3%
4-5%
6-8%
9-10%
11-57%
0 0.5 1
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2
3
4
Miles
N
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The Accumulated Cost Surface
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Start point in Altoona
End point in Mitchellville
Weighted Sum
Cost Increases
N
Cost Decreases
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0
0.5
1
2
3
4
Miles
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The Cost Distance & Direction Surfaces
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Cost Direction Surface
Cost Distance Surface
Altoona
Start point in Altoona
End point in Mitchellville
Altoona
Mitchellville
Mitchellville
Source
Left
Upper-Left
Up
Upper-Right
Right
Lower-Right
Down
Lower-Left
0 0.5 1
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2
3
4
Miles
N
The Least Cost Path
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Start point in Altoona
End point in Mitchellville
Existing Conceptual
Route
The Least Cost Path
N
Miles
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0
0.5
1
2
3
31
4
Multiple Scenarios
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Layer
Name
original
rivers
x1
x2
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
wetlands
x1
x1
x2
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
trails
x1
x1
x1
x2
x1
x1
x1
x1
roads
x1
x1
x1
x1
x2
x1
x1
x1
slope
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x2
x1
x1
landcover
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x2
x1
conservation
& recreation
land
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x1
x2
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scenario scenario scenario scenario scenario scenario scenario
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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Multiple Scenarios
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Start point in Altoona
End point in Mitchellville
Existing Conceptual
Route
The Original Least Cost Path
Scenario 1 Least Cost Path
Scenario 2 Least Cost Path
Scenario 3 Least Cost Path
Scenario 4 Least Cost Path
Scenario 5 Least Cost Path
Scenario 6 Least Cost Path
N
Scenario 7 Least Cost Path
Miles
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0
0.5
1
2
3
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4
Multiple Scenarios : Statistics
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
Original Count: 515
Original Path Cost: 93,973
Scenarios
New Count
Count
Deviation %
New PathCost
Cost
Deviation %
Trail Alignment
Change %
1
515
0±
103,322
9.9+
4.5
2
515
0±
101,817
8.3+
49.9
3
515
0±
103,794
10.5+
49.9
4
515
102,465
9.0+
53.6
5
515
0±
105,453
12.2+
55.0
6
515
0±
116,077
23.5+
44.7
7
515
0±
117,168
24.7+
53.0
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0±
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Results
Start/Stop Nodes
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Review of The Least Cost Paths
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
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Review of The Least Cost Paths
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
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Suggested Route
Section 1: Altoona-Mitchellville
1
2
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Recreation Lands/Gaps
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Conclusion
Start/Stop Nodes
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Conclusion
Limitations
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Lack of accuracy of the data
No sufficient property data for suburban
areas
Viewshed took too much time to
complete
Criteria not particularly tailored for the
study area
No field observation and inventory
Inevitable data redundancy
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Conclusion
Final Remarks on the Geo-Process
• For water bodies and the wetlands, data cannot
be set to 'no data' in reclassification. Since they
spread across almost everywhere between the
starting point and the destination. In stead, a
value of relatively high should be set to allow
the path go across.
• Z-factor for slope is 0.01. According to DEM
value the mean is 28531.90728. And the mean
elevation for the State of Iowa is 1100feet. So it
is very likely that the number has a unit of
centimeter. Thus the factor of 0.01.
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Acknowledgements
Professor Monica Haddad
Robin McNeely
Josh Obrecht
Professor Kevin Kane
The Department of Landscape Architecture
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References
1. Badland, Hannah, et al. "Socio-ecological predictors of the uptake of cycling for recreation
and transport in adults: Results from the RESIDE study." Preventive medicine 57.4 (2013):
396-399.
2. Bagli, Stefano, Davide Geneletti, and Francesco Orsi. "Routeing of power lines through leastcost path analysis and multicriteria evaluation to minimise environmental impacts."
Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31.3 (2011): 234-239.
3. Boulton, Andrea. "Re: Few Questions." Ed. Haddad, Monica2014. Print.
4. Bowles, Brian, et al. Economic and Health Benefits of Bicycling in Iowa: University of
Northern Iowa, 2011. Print.
5. Ferguson, Janet Y. Location and design of recreational trails: Application of GIS technology.
Diss. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1998.
6. Giles-Corti, Billie, et al. "The co-benefits for health of investing in active
transportation." New South Wales public health bulletin 21.6 (2010): 122-127
7. Huy, Christina, Simone Becker, Uwe Gomolinsky, Thomas Klein, and Ansgar Thiel. "Health,
medical risk factors, and bicycle use in everyday life in the over-50 population." J Aging Phys
Act 16, no. 4 (2008): 454-464.
8. http://dmampo.org/about-2/
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Red_Rock_(Des_Moines_River)
10.Iowa DNR, http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/HikingBiking.aspx
11.Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. Trails design and management handbook. Aspen, CO,
1994.
12.Snyder, Stephanie A., et al. "Ecological criteria, participant preferences and location models:
a GIS approach toward ATV trail planning." Applied Geography 28.4 (2008): 248-258.
13.Titze, Sylvia, et al. "Epidemiology of cycling for exercise, recreation or sport in Australia and
its contribution to health-enhancing physical activity." Journal of Science and Medicine in
Sport (2013).
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