Rock Island purchase moves KC closer to connecting with Katy Trail | The Kansas City Star

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They say it’s never easy brokering a deal with a railroad.

But seven years of negotiations with the Union Pacific finally will pay off Monday when Jackson County takes ownership of an inactive rail right-of-way, which puts it close to linking KC with Missouri’s cross-state Katy Trail.

Eventually, the corridor also could become spine of a commuter rail line connecting eastern Jackson County with Kansas City’s streetcar line, which begins operations Friday. But for now the decades-old goal of a Katy connection from Kansas City to St. Louis is a virtual certainty, with the county expecting to complete its trail section by spring 2018, if not earlier.

“The completion of the purchase of the Rock Island corridor sets the stage for our residents and workers to move in ways they never could before,” County Executive Frank White said. “This is an investment in our future, and our legacy to future generations.”

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Rock Island purchase moves KC closer to connecting with Katy Trail | The Kansas City Star