Rock Island Trail: Hundreds attend meeting on proposed statewide trail | Local News - Home

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Hundreds packed the Knights of Columbus Hall in an Osage County town Thursday night to learn more about a proposed recreation trail that would connect the eastern and western border of Missouri.

The Rock Island Trail would require turning 144 miles of railroad in mid-Missouri into a trail, from Beaufort in Franklin County to Windsor in Henry County. Counties and cities west of WIndsor are already converting 47 miles of the railroad, formerly owned by Ameren Missouri, into a trail, connecting Windsor to Kansas City. If the 144 miles in question were to also become part of the Rock Island Trail, it would make a loop from St. Louis to Kansas City in conjunction with the Katy Trail in the eastern part of the state. . . .

Supporters of the trail use the Katy Trail as an example of the potential economic boon the trail would have on communities directly in line with the project. Missouri Parks director Bill Bryan said towns like Rocheport enjoy greater tourism and tax revenue because of the Katy Trail's proximity. . . .

However, land owners and the Missouri Farm Bureau see the railroad's conversion to a trail as a circumvention of the rights of the people whose land the Ameren railroad sits upon.

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Rock Island Trail: Hundreds attend meeting on proposed statewide trail | Local News - Home

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