Lee's Summit considers step in Katy Trail connection to Kansas City

According to a Blue Springs Examiner article, the Lee's Summit City Council will consider vacating land for an extension of the Katy Trail from Lee's Summit to Pleasant Hill.
Quad state trail

Messerli announced the move last week. The property to be released rests along the portion of the old Rock Island Rail Road line owned by Union Pacific Railroad Co. The land is not the portion of the line owned by Ameren UE, which runs through several Lee's Summit neighborhoods.
The portion of the Rock Island RR line that would connect the Katy Trail to the Kansas City area runs from Windsor, MO to Pleasant Hill. This portion is owned or controlled by AmerenUE. The remainder, from Pleasant Hill through Lee's Summit, Kansas City, and Raytown to the Truman Sports Complex, is owned by Union Pacific.

If Ameren allows the portion of the Rock Island line from Windsor to Pleasant Hill to be used as a trail corridor (either a rail-to-trail or a rails-WITH-trails conversion) then the next question will be, how can that line connect on to other points within the Kansas City metro area.

Several options will be pursued for trail connections to Pleasant Hill. But one of the best is to continue the trail on or along the Rock Island line through Lee's Summit, Raytown, and Kansas City to the Truman Sports Complex.

Lee's Summit's action could help that effort tremendously.

All in all it is just another indication of the momentum building to Complete the Katy Trail by connecting it to communities all across the state.

Other recent actions that add up to a major trend:
  • Recent action by DNR to extend the Katy Trail to its natural end at Machens
  • Efforts to connect the trail across the Missouri River to Jefferson City
  • MoDOT's current construction of a bike/ped path as part of the Missouri River bridge at Hermann (connecting the Katy Trail to that destination)
  • plans to build a bike/ped connection across the river at Washington
  • MoDOT's recently announced plans to mark an on-road bicycle/pedestrian route from the end of the Katy Trail at Clinton to the recently completed Frisco Highline Trail.
  • Growing support among elected agencies and officials to work to connect the Katy Trail to Kansas City
  • Raytown's recent passage of a resolution supporting the Katy Trail Connection to the Kansas City area
Are the citizen advocacy efforts led and organized by the Missouri Bicycle Federation having an effect on this trend?

You bet it is. Government officials and agencies can't move in situations like this unless they feel public support for their actions.

Thousans of citizens writing and signing petitions in favor of the Complete Katy Trail has been a big part of that effort. Supportive actions by policitians and agencies across the state has been another part.

If you support Completing the Katy Trail, please take two minutes to send a message to officials in support.

If you want powerful advocacy like this to continue, please support MoBikeFed in its end-of-year fund raising drive. We need your support to continue and expand our advocacy efforts.

And right now, thanks to a generous private foundation, your donation towards better bicycling, walking, and trails in Missouri will be doubled.

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