Our view: Joplin needs to join statewide, regional, national trail networks | Columns | joplinglobe.com

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Imagine, for a moment, a Midwest network of abandoned rail lines converted into trails, a network covering a thousand miles or more, linking major cities such as St. Louis, Kansas City and Omaha, as well as smaller communities.

Imagine this network of trails stretching from the Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River to Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills.

At the same time, imagine our neighbors to the south building a network of bicycling and walking trails tying together much of Northwest Arkansas, a network of a hundred miles or more, connecting major cultural and historic sites, such as Crystal Bridges, the University of Arkansas and Pea Ridge National Military Park.

You don’t have to imagine it.

Both networks are being built now.

The question it poses for Southwest Missouri is this: Is Joplin going to be connected to it, and if so, when, where and how?

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Our view: Joplin needs to join statewide, regional, national trail networks | Columns | joplinglobe.com