Joplin area plans to add another trail

Rail trails are really catching on in the Joplin area--now another one is in the works, according to a Joplin Globe article:

A proposed recycling of a former railroad line could revive the junction that gave Carl Junction its moniker.

This junction, however, would be accessible only by two-wheeled and foot traffic. The city hopes to turn more than a mile of former north-south railroad line into a biking and walking trail from Briarbrook Drive to the south to Main Street on the north end, said city administrator Joe Barfield.

It would intersect on the north end with the Joplin Trail Coalition's planned 16-mile Ruby Jack Trail on former Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad line - a stretch of railroad which sparked controversy and lawsuits in the federal courts from landowners whose land abuts the property.

The proposed trail, named the Tom Station Trail by council members Tuesday, also met with disagreement when Robert Cook, who lives next to the trail at 212 E. Allen St., heard of it.