Missouri Bicycling, Walking, Running, and Trails News

A new bicycle and pedestrian crossing of the Missouri River--long under discussion and study--is finally underway in St. Charles and St. Louis Counties.  Engineering and design is now moving forward on the project, which is fully funded.

The project is a collaboration between the cities of St. Charles and Bridgeton, MoDOT (which owns/operates the bridge), Great Rivers Greenway, and others.

The Discovery Bridge carries Missouri 370 across the Missouri River between St. Charles and Bridgeton. It is one of six Missouri River Bridges in the greater St. Louis region. As one of the most logical and direct connections between two highly populated counties, bicycle and pedestrian access across the Discovery Bridge has long been under discussion.

Kansas City's Riverfront Heritage Trail recently reached a major milestone and completed the vision for that trail that was set out in the late 1990s.

The trail, which has been under development for two decades now, has finally created a seamless connection between downtown Kansas City, Missouri, downtown Kansas City, Kansas, and historic Kaw Point, where the Kansas and Missouri Rivers converge, and where Lewis and Clark camped in 1804.

The trail bridges two states, three counties, three cities, and two major rivers.

The trail takes pedestrians and cyclists across numerous difficult barriers, including cliffs, many sets of railroad tracks, multiple complex interstate freeway interchanges, local roads, and the Kansas River.  The trail links to Berkeley Riverfront Park and the Bob Watts Memorial Bike/Ped Path on the Heart of America Bridge, which crosses the Missouri River to give North Kansas City a connection to the trail, as well.

The trail includes numerous park areas, works of art, light fixtures, and other amenities designed to improve both the trail and the neighborhoods it passes through.

The Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation has been part of a national coalition of groups that have been working to ensure that walking and bicycling were included in proposed Performance Measures for our national transportation system.

The danger was that the measures would focus on, and support, only motorized transportation. That would mean that federal policy and funding would all move in that direction--towards support of motorized automobile travel only, neglecting public transit, walking, bicycling, trails, and other transportation options.

The end result would be to deny these legitimate transportation modes their fair share of federal transportation funding. Federal policy sets the standard for state and local spending, so the effects of the new policy will cascade down to affect nearly every transportation project in the country, for multi-lane high-speed freeways to neighborhood sidewalks.

Greg Harris, Executive Director of the Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc. (MoRIT) just sent the latest version of the Rock Island Trail Update.

Rock Island Trail Update

January 11, 2017

Hundreds attended the dedication of the first 47 miles of the Rock Island Trail on December 10, 2016. The Pleasant Hill to Windsor segment connects greater Kansas City to the 240 mile Katy Trail. Ameren will give an additional 144 miles to the State of Missouri in late 2017 after salvage of the rails and ties is completed. Salvage status is posted at https://www.powerforwardmo.com/rockisland.

In celebration of the Grand Opening Saturday of the first 47.5 miles of the Rock Island Trail State Park, connecting the Katy Trail to the Kansas City metro area, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has published a major article about the Rock Island Trail, with many details about its history and future:

Just in time for the holidays, a stunning new rail-trail has arrived in Missouri. Opening Dec. 10, the 47.5-mile Rock Island Trail State Park is notable for its length—and its connection to an even longer trail: the renowned Katy Trail State Park, which, at 237.7 miles, nearly crosses the entire state. While the Katy Trail stops short of Kansas City, a forthcoming extension of the Rock Island Trail will march right to the city’s doorstep, making it possible to utilize both trails to travel between the state’s two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, without a car.