Missouri will soon have a car-free 400-mile biking/hiking loop | Plaid Zebra

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:

Windsor, Missouri is a typical rural American town. Fewer than three thousand people live there. The factory that used to employ about fifteen percent of the adult population closed several years ago, leaving few options for employment. A few buildings along the commercial strip – Uptown, as the locals call it – have collapsed or been destroyed by fire over the past couple decades. The two block section resembles a mouth full of missing teeth, but things are looking up for the quaint town. It’s now at a critical point on an internationally significant bike trail – The Rock Island Trail.

This past December saw the opening of the first section of the new trail. It connects a southern suburb of Kansas City to the Katy Trail forty-seven miles south. The Rock Island Trail meets the 240-mile Katy Trail in the heart of Windsor.

It’s now possible to get nearly all the way from Kansas City to St. Louis by bike or on foot, without ever having to travel alongside cars. Work on another 144 miles is underway, which will create a 400-mile loop around the state and connect to several smaller existing spurs. The trail will also soon complete the route into Kansas City.

It’s big news for a town like Windsor, which has incomes well below the national mean and has struggled to find a strong source of employment. Officials believe the new trail system will bring visitors from all over the world to bike, hike, and camp along the route.

Link: 

Missouri will soon have a car-free 400-mile biking/hiking loop | Plaid Zebra