Levee Trail In Kansas City, Kansas, Begins To Take Shape | KCUR

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Standing at the meeting point of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, you can still get a glimpse of what Lewis and Clark might have seen when they camped here 212 years ago: vast skies, tall trees, wide, shimmering rivers, even the occasional eagle.

Rick Behrens, pastor of Grandview Park Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Kansas, says the rivers are hidden gems.

“It’s really a unique slice of nature in the middle of our cities that’s pretty amazing and a great opportunity for people to get away from the city, in a sense, right in the middle of the city,” Behrens says.

Behrens and other cycling and fitness advocates want the community to be able to take advantage of the rivers and surrounding nature. They’re trying to open public access to the levees in Kansas City, Kansas, for cycling, walking and jogging.

To do so, however, they’ll have to overcome circumstances that have shaped this part of the city for decades.

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Levee Trail In Kansas City, Kansas, Begins To Take Shape | KCUR

MoBikeFed comment: Public access to levees and to our rivers has been a long-time concern of bicycle and pedestrian advocates across Missouri and the midwest. Rivers are centers of transportation, recreation, and nature in our communities. We put billions of tax dollars into levees and levee improvements, but then the public is locked out of access to the rivers, even though they are owned and paid for by the public.

Fortunately, this attitude is starting to change. At the recent celebration of the completion of the Riverfront Heritage Trail, which links downtown Kansas City, Missouri with downtown Kansas City, Kansas, Mark Holland, the Mayor of KCK, expressed his commitment to opening levee trails across the city.

It's something we need to see happen in communities across Missouri and adjoining states