St. Louis: River Ring trail system starts to come together

Jim Sherby envisions a day when he and his neighbors can walk, bike or jog on the Centennial Greenway, a planned 14-mile system of multiuse trails that will connect Forest Park to Creve Coeur Park.

Most days, Sherby, 59, commutes on his mountain bike 1 1/2 miles from his Clayton home along a designated bike path on Wydown Boulevard to his law firm.

Last year, Sherby joined a citizen advisory committee to promote "The River Ring," a proposed 600-mile network of more than 45 greenways on both sides of the Mississippi River.

"I've been an avid urban biker for years, and I saw the benefit of getting around town on a bicycle," Sherby said. "I want to expand safe biking for all people."

The trail is being developed by the Great Rivers Greenway District, funded by a voter-approved one-tenth of one cent sales tax that brings in about $10 million a year. . . .

He added that the greenway is part of a nationwide trend of metropolitan trail systems that connect people and parks, "making new connections from abandoned areas that were once eyesores and turning them into nice amenities for the community."