Kansas City riverfront trail--problems and progress

The KCStar's Mike Hendricks has a column today about progress and problems in getting the Riverfront Heritage Trail ready for the July 4th Lewis and Clark celebration:

“We're just excited that for so many years, Kansas City's rivers have been shut off from public access,” said Steve Rhoades, who oversees the Metro Green initiative at Mid-America Regional Council.

Naturally, the Riverfront Heritage Trail is key to that reconnection. Eventually, it will stretch from east of the Paseo Bridge to downtown Kansas City, Kan., with two spurs to the south.

One sign of progress to look for in the next few months: Construction will soon begin for a link between City Market and Southwest Boulevard. On the negative side, Trotter still needs to find $3 million to build a pedestrian bridge between the market and the West Bottoms.

Then there's the Kaw Valley Drainage District, which refuses to allow the trail to be built atop the levee along the Kansas River.