Kansas City Extension Closer to Reality
On November 28, 2007, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Ameren Corporation announced a settlement to the
Taum Sauk reservoir collapse, which "includes an agreement for Ameren to lease 46 miles of its Rock Island Railroad
to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to connect the Katy Trail from
the town of Windsor to Pleasant Hill."
This is great news - a HUGE step toward extending the trail to KC.
Thank you to all who contacted Ameren to request that this be included in the settlement!
Imagine riding the Katy Trail from one end of Missouri to the other.
Currently the trail comes to within about 15 miles of St Louis on the eastern end, but ends some 80 miles away from Kansas City
on the western end.
Several towns and organizations in western Missouri understand the enormous potential benefits of extending the trail
westward, and are taking the first steps toward accomplishing that goal.
The Missouri Bike Federation has taken a lead on pushing for the extension.
This March 13, 2005 article in the Columbia Missourian
details their efforts, along with more information on the potential Rock Island Line extension.
Check out the news section of Bike Federation's home page,
where you can almost always find an article or two about the Kansas City extension.
Also, don't miss this page on the MoBikeFed website, which has
illustrations of what the extension might look like, and a map of potential routes.
The Kansas City Star published a couple of articles in late 2004 discussing the possibility of extending the Katy Trail
to Kansas City.
There are a few different options, and it looks like the town of Pleasant Hill is seriously considering building
what may be the first section of such an extension (update: see below).
An extension to KC may be years away, but it's exciting that some people are working to get the ball rolling.
Here are the articles:
09-26-2004 Hit the books, then hit the Katy Trail
10-17-2004 Katy to KC Readers respond
Both articles are reproduced with the permission of the Kansas City Star and are Copyright © 2004 Kansas City Star.
Kansas City-based Mid-America Regional Council's website has a
map of the proposed Rock Island Corridor for the Katy Trail Connection.
July 11, 2005 - Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks wrote a column asking anyone who would like to
see the Katy Trail extended to Kansas City, to write a quick note to the Director of the
Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR says that an outpouring of grassroots support for the extension is just what it would take
to get things started.
The five minutes you spend writing a note right now could help make this a reality.
Please send an email or letter to the DNR expressing your desire to see the Katy Trail
brought to Kansas City. Send to:
Doyle Childers
Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Box 176
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Email: moparks@dnr.mo.gov
April 2006 - The town of Pleasant Hill is moving forward with trail plans that will link into
the eventual KC connection. Thank you to savage24 for sending the following article:
 
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