2016 Missouri Legislature result: Legislature approves funding to complete section of Rock Island Trail - Daily Star-Journal

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

A bill that will provide $4.6 million to complete the construction of the Rock Island Trail has been approved by the legislature.

Sen. David Pearce said the House gave final approval to House Bill 217 on Thursday.

The only thing that will stop it now, Pearce said, is if Gov. Jay Nixon chooses to withhold the funds or veto them.

“The governor has been very supportive of the project,” he said, so a veto is not expected.

He said the funds will pay for signage and establishing trail heads and other amenities.

The allocation supplements the $18 million provided in the Ameren UE settlement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources over the over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse in December 2005, that devastated the Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.

The settlement paid for construction of the trail between Windsor and Pleasant Hill.

Link: 

2016 Missouri Legislature result: Legislature approves funding to complete section of Rock Island Trail - Daily Star-Journal

MoBikeFed comment: Governor Nixon has pledged to open this section of the Rock Island Trail State Park--connecting the Katy Trail at Windsor to Pleasant Hill, on the outskirts of the Kansas City area, in 2016.

This funding was just one positive outcome of the 2016 legislative session, including:

- Stopping the ATV/Katy Trail bill

- Stopping the 15 foot bicycle flag bill

- $20 million in multimodal funding for MoDOT - the first time the state has approved state multimodal funding, which can be used for projects involving roads, transit, biking, and/or walking

- Funding for a portion of the Spirit Trail connecting Warrensburg to Whiteman Air Force Base

- Funding to close one of the last remaining gaps in the Katy Trail in Sedalia