Governor Nixon announces start of work on the Katy Trail Connection to Kansas City

Ikaty Trail Connection - Governor's Press Conference

The trail work is about to begin--on the 46-mile trail segment connecting the Katy Trail to Pleasant Hill in the Kansas City area.

On April 3rd, Governor Nixon came to Pleasant Hill to officially announce the start of work on the new trail.

The Governor spoke, as did new Department of natural Resources Director Mark Templeton, Senator David Pearce, Pleasant Hill Mayor Terry Wilson,

"Having a trail cross the entire state and connect our two major metropolitan centers will enhance recognition for Missouri and be an economic boost," Gov. Nixon said. "No other state has such a cross-state trail, and I am excited to be part of its expansion."

Some highlights:

* Work on on the trail will start within a month or so.

* Department of Natural Resources officials are starting work at Pleasant Hill and working southeast, so that users starting in Pleasant Hill will be able to use the finished portions of the trail sooner.

* Within a one to three years some segments of the trail will be ready for use, though it may be up to five years before the entire 42-mile segment is completed.

* This is a "rails with trails" project where the trail will be adjacent to the existing railroad tracks--on the south/west side of the existing tracks. That means that the trail will have a very different feel to it than the current Katy Trail, which tends to be straight and flat.

* The Rock Island segment will have many more hills and curves--as well as features like boardwalks--as it navigates the side of the rail corridor. It will also likely be narrower than the Katy Trail.

* In a campaign coordinated by the Missouri Bicycle Federation, over 7000 Missourians wrote, called, or emailed the Department of Natural Resources in support of the Katy Trail over the past several years.

* This segment is the key connection needed to create a five-state interconnected system of trails--which will eventually reach close to over 2.5 million Missourians. This is about ten times the amount of people the Katy Trail currently reaches (about 240,000 Missourians live within two-three miles of a trail that connects to the Katy Trail system).

Creating a complete cross-state trails system reaching millions of Missourians is among the goals of MoBikeFed's Vision of Bicycling and Walking in Missouri.