Community Visioning - Marquette, IA
Through the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning program, Marquette’s stakeholders identified priorities for enhancing connections between parks and destinations, creating safer pedestrian routes, and adding placemaking amenities at the Depot Museum. Alongside neighboring City of McGregor, the community also shared the goal of linking the two cities with a trail along the Mississippi River.
JBC facilitated a needs assessment, analyzed transportation networks, and delivered conceptual designs that included the following:
Depot Museum improvements – Expanded amenities such as rest area facilities, a boardwalk, and a picnic area to strengthen its role as an Iowa Welcome Center.
Pedestrian overpasses – Repurposed historic steel railroad bridges to provide safe crossings.
Wayfinding updates – A historic branding scheme for new signage and placement to improve visitor navigation.
Trail connectivity – A plan to link isolated sections across rails, roads, and rivers, with connections extending to Effigy Mounds National Park.
Cantilevered trail – A dramatic riverside pathway linking McGregor and Marquette along the Mississippi.
These concepts, paired with JBC’s final report highlighting grant funding opportunities, provide a clear roadmap for Marquette to strengthen its identity, expand tourism, and improve quality of life for residents.
