NW section of Jackson County Rock Island Trail expected to open this spring | KMBC

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:

Soon all 13 miles of the Rock Island Trail will be open to the public. . . .

"We're just kind of in a wrap-up and kind of punch list stage of the project," said Matt Davis, project manager for the Rock Island Trail.

Davis is hoping for an April opening date. He said the $15 million project has had a ton of challenges, including legal battles, but he said that it is on budget.

"The good news is we were able to deliver this trail project," Davis said. "And it's really going to be a great amenity for the community."

Link: 

NW section of Jackson County Rock Island Trail expected to open this spring | KMBC

MoBikeFed comment: This 13 mile section of the Rock Island Trail has been a long time coming. It has been under discussion since the Rock Island RR ceased operations nearly 40 years ago.

The section under discussion links with the 6-mile section of the Jackson County Rock Island Trail opened in 2019. It continues about 7 miles northwest through Kansas City and Raytown, ending at the Truman Sports Complex.

As mentioned in the article, there are plans underway to connect this section of the Rock Island Trail to the Missouri State Parks Rock Island/Katy Trail State Park Spur starting in Pleasant Hill and connecting to the Katy Trail in Windsor--making a seamless trail connection nearly all the way across Missouri, from state line to state line.

In the meanwhile, it is very easy to make that same connection using a few miles of low-traffic country roads. MoBikeFed has marked the route:

This last missing section is called the "Greenwood Gap". Here are routes to bridge the Greenwood Gap today:

https://mobikefed.org/rock-island-trail-western-connections#greenwood

And many more connecting routes to get from nearly anywhere in the Kansas City metro area to the Rock Island Trail--and from there to the Katy Trail:

https://mobikefed.org/rock-island-trail-western-connections