First look: Design for new Merle Hay kayak launch in Johnston near Bombers complex

Johnston unveiled the design for a new kayak launch off Merle Hay Road at an open house on Thursday.

Officials presented early renderings for a planned improvement to get kayaks and canoes into Beaver Creek, just north of the Interstate 80/35 interchange, that will double as a trailhead to the adjacent Beaver Creek Trail. The project is part of the ICON Water Trails, an ongoing significant investment to waterway amenities in central Iowa for residents and visitors, including other recent kayak projects in Johnston .

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The Merle Hay creek access will join with the planned Bombers entertainment complex , which will feature a hotel, a golf facility with climate-controlled bays, new options for food and drink and more.

Further design work, bids, permitting and other work needs to be finished before construction starts. Construction should begin in the winter with the goal to finish in 2025.

The Merle Hay access project will include parking, a bike trail connection, limestone seating along the river, restrooms, kayak storage lockers, a bicycle repair station and native plantings for water retention.

It will cost about $1 million.

The city also is expected to seek grant funding for a possible public art project on the site.

Johnston already has a carry-down access point on Beaver Creek on Northwest 70th Street, just east of Northwest 86th Street. It also has a kayak launch in Lew Clarkson Park.

Once completed, paddlers can drop in at either site and take out at the new Merle Hay access point or continue east to reach the Des Moines River.

Chris Higgins covers the eastern and northern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_ .

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: First look: Design for new Merle Hay kayak launch in Johnston near Bombers complex