Missouri Bicycle News Article

A St. Louis Post-Dispatch article reports that the eastern end of the Katy Trail may be completed from St. Charles to Machens soon:

Bicyclists who want to experience the entire Katy Trail as it was meant to be may get to give it a spin as early as this summer.

For years, an 11-mile section of the trail just north of St. Charles and running to Machens has remained incomplete. Two parts of that stretch had been washed out by floodwater, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources was trying to find a way around the problem. The section has long been depicted on trail maps as a dotted line.

The state agency and the North County Levee District, which controls the levy near the trail, have talked several times over the past year about the possibility of rerouting the trail on the levy. They hope to have an agreement within the next month, said Trent Summers, legislative liaison with the state agency.

Aerial photos of the problematic portions of the railroad right-of-way, which were washed out in floods, can be seen here.

As the article points out, the thousands of messages supporters have sent Ameren and the DNR, urging them to "complete the Katy Trail" have had an effect:

On the other side of the state, momentum has been building to extend the Katy Trail to Kansas City from its current stopping point in Clinton. This spring, the governor endorsed the idea of asking Ameren Corp. to let the state use an old Rock Island Railroad bed it owns as part of the trail. This would extend the trail from Windsor, east of Clinton, to Pleasant Hill, a suburb of Kansas City.

Bicycle advocates continue to petition Ameren. A company spokesman said Friday that they were in negotiations with the state but would give no details.

Supporters have sent over 3000 messages, letters, and phone calls to the DNR and Ameren (and you can send your message in 2 minutes here).

MoBikeFed's position has been to use the opportunity to connect the Katy to Kansas City to build general public and political support for the Katy Trail--with the idea that this support will also create a climate where connecting the trail to other communities across the state seems logical.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has received somewhere over 3000 citizen emails, letters, postcards and phone calls in support of the "Complete Katy Trail" over the past couple of years.

All this citizen and community support is having an effect--connections to Machens and Kansas City are now clearly in play, a connection to Hermann is being built (though this pre-dates the current "Complete the Katy" campaign), a connection to Washington is planned, and rumors have been heard of a connection across the Missouri River to Jefferson City. Springfield-area advocates successfully lobbied MoDOT to create a signed on-road bicycle connection between the Frisco Highline Trail, which connects Springfield and Bolivar, and the western end of the Katy Trail in Clinton.

Meanwhile, support is growing for the concept of the 'Quad State Trail' that will be anchored by the Katy Trail. A second and more detail round of planning for the Quad State Trail will start next year.

• Katy Trail maps and info can be found here.
  
• Some notes about the Machens situations are here.