Glacier Trail: Iowa's most fitting street name?
A fitting name for this week's weather can't be found
Things are going to get deep here.
Not a political analysis. Not a breaking sports news story or an enterprise story that will win a Pulitzer.
I’m talking about what everyone is discussing lately. Snow!
We’re crying for mercy lately, after three storms in the Des Moines area. Two were about 9-10 inches deep (on my lawn, anyway), plus another four inches atop that. Accompanied by temperatures that reached double digits below zero, it’s been rough.
Waukee’s Southeast Glacier Trail has deep snow around one of the street signs. (Photo by John Naughton.)
As I drove through Waukee’s Winter Wonderland — piles of snow left by plows everywhere — I discovered an aptly named street.
Southeast Glacier Trail.
The mountains of snow next to the street sign seemed ridiculous. And appropriate.
The reporter’s curiosity made me wonder. What’s a street named Glacier doing here?
I reached out to Heather Behrens, Waukee’s city marketing and communications director, who was gracious enough to reply.
Waukee’s a booming Des Moines suburb, and there are developments that have streets platted and laid out, but some areas are yet to be filled with homes and businesses.
Southeast Glacier Trail is one of those. The street signs are up, but the oversized snow on the corner is much larger than you’d see if you lived or worked there.
Glacier Trail is part of the city’s Kettlestone development. That is, a neighborhood with street names related to when glaciers covered much of our present-day state. There are other themed names, too.
Here’s part of the reply Heather emailed to me:
“SE Glacier Trail is in the Kettlestone area of Waukee, which is named for the small kettle ponds that were created by glaciers that once covered the area. Within Kettlestone, we try to name new streets with a geologic theme in honor of the glaciers that shaped the landscape here. SE Glacier Trail is one example. SE Esker Ridge Drive is another, which references ridges made of sands and gravels that were deposited by glacial meltwater flowing through tunnels within and underneath glaciers.
From the design guideline for the Kettlestone development, which has many different residential and commercial developments within it:
‘As the last glacier retreated from Central Iowa some 12,000 – 14,000 years ago, it left behind a rich and diverse landscape of morainal ridges (knobs), bowl-shaped depressions (kettles), and glacial boulders or erratics (stone). This unique episode of glacial activity, combined with today’s investment in large, public greenbelts of water and rock, give both historic relevance and a natural focus on where Waukee has been – and where it’s going.’ “
Another view of Glacier Trail in Waukee. (Photo by John Naughton.)
I did a bit more research for street names in Iowa that seem weather appropriate.
Winter Street is a popular choice. And of course, you can visit Winterset, too.
This was a brutal week for Iowa weather, so I’m not sure you’d want to reside on avenues named Blizzard Boulevard, Artic Alley or Snowmageddon Street.
But for me, it was fun to find a smile in everyday life.
Have a great weekend digging out of this snow. It will warm up soon.