Missouri River bridge at Jefferson City now bike-friendlier

Terry Whaley of Springfield recently sent a letter to the Jefferson City Tribune praising the re-striping and signage on the northbound Missouri River bridge at Jefferson City, that makes the bridge far more bicycle-friendly and allows bicycle access between Jefferson City and the Katy Trail:

Having heard that the north-bound Missouri River bridge had been striped and signed for bicyclists we decided to check it out.

Our biking helmets are off with a well-deserved salute to MoDOT and Caryn Giaratano, our (MoDOT) statewide bicycle pedestrian coordinator, for at last achieving a long overdue objective of many cyclists in the state.

Our connection from the Amtrak station to the trail worked great! Keeping in mind that we were three experienced road cyclists, we all agreed that the comfort level was within reason and the striping and signage worked well to alert drivers of the possibility of cyclists. This improvement will also aid out-of- state visitors wishing to make a connection to the Katy and Jefferson City for dining, lodging and access to Amtrak.

This improvement was made with little cost to the state and will go far in the promotion of the Katy Trail and its connection to our capital city. We now need MoDOT's continued interest and support to make such a connection on the southbound Jefferson City bridge to have a fully connected network for the Katy and Jefferson City.

Additionally, MoDOT should be commended for forward thinking with regard to seeing that all new Missouri River bridges or improvements to current bridges connecting to the Katy provide accomodations for cyclists and pedestrians.

Incidentally, as a first simple step to help make some of the bridges connecting the Katy Trail to nearby communities, members of MoBikeFed on MoDOT's Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board are working with MoDOT to have these bridges provided with "Share the Road" signs. This is, obviously, only a first step in making these bridges more bicycle friendly, but it can be done relatively quickly and with relatively little expense.