Reply to Lee's Summit / Amtrak Station to Pleasant Hill

Has anyone ridden from the Amtrak station to Pleasant Hill? Is there a recomended bike friendly route?

Crossing MO-50 in Lee's Summit is daunting. I much prefer riding from Kansas City to Pleasant Hill.

How would riding from Kansas City to Pleasant Hill be better? Is there a trail? I'm trying to find options of getting from an Amtrak station to the Pleasant Hill trailhead for an upcoming ride.

Devin, see this discussion to see if it helps in your planning:
http://www.bikekatytrail.com/talk.aspx?thid=8479&tag=307~

The best route to Pleasant Hill from an Amtrak Station is definitely from the Lee's Summit station. Lee's Summit has a pretty confusing mix of striped bike shoulders (not really lanes) and wide bike sidewalk trails. Since the description is so long, I will probably have to break this up into a couple of posts, but it really isn't that complicated to ride.

Leaving the Lee's Summit train station, actually bike north (to your right) along Main Street after getting off from the train. In less than 1/4 mile, Main Street merges with O'Brien Road and sweeps to the left. O'Brien Road has striped bike shoulders, so continue straight on O'Brien about 1.5 miles until you go over Hwy. 50 and hit a T-intersection at Murray Road. Turn left onto Murray Road, go straight through the 4 way stop, then continue for 1/2 mile until you reach the next 4 way stop at 3rd Street. The Murray Road sidewalks are pretty rough, so I would just take the lane along Murray Road. People bike this area all the time, so cars are used to it. Continue straight through the 4 way stop on Murray Road for another 1/2 mile until you hit the T-intersection at Longview Road. Turn left onto Longview Road and take the bike trail sidewalk on the south side for 1/4 mile until you hit Ward Road. Turn right onto Ward Road and take the Ward bike trail sidewalk for 3 miles south until you hit Hwy. 150.

Part 2:

Turn left onto Hwy. 150 from Ward and either take the narrow sidewalks or a lane of traffic for 1.25 miles until you reach the Hwy. 291 intersection. Continue straight under the 291 bridge and take the whole lane of traffic along Hwy. 150 (it is a very busy, but low speed 2 lane highway) for 1/2 mile until you can turn off onto the first side street (Doc Henry Road). Weave your way through Greenwood by turning right onto Doc Henry, left on Cherokee, right onto 20th Avenue, left onto Allendale, and then right onto Allendale Lake Road. Take Allendale Lake Road for 2 total miles south until it curves to the left and becomes County Road. The first mile of Allendale Lake Road is wide and there is a nice sidewalk trail on the east side, but the second mile is narrow and hilly as it passes Lake Winnebago, but I think that this route is much better than heading further east along the gravel roads by the quarry.

County Road weaves around and becomes Groll Road, 171st Street, and then Gray Drive, but eventually you will hit 175th Street. Turn left onto 175th Street and take that two lane road for 3 miles until you cross the railroad tracks. Immediately past the railroad tracks you will see a gravel trail, so turn right onto that gravel trail and it will take you right into Downtown Pleasant Hill. You do have to follow a short detour through Pleasant Hill in order to reach the beginning of the Rock Hill Trail, but it isn't too hard to find, plus you can always stop and ask directions.

I shot a video of the route I took.
At least should help to familiarize with road condition and general orientation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CqA-TwZwZg&list=PLCsM25rmv9NJRv1zujZ8EykSeX8zu_ouE&index=7&t=169s

What sad about this is that Amtrak goes through downtown Pleasant Hill. I don't suppose jumping off the train is recommended....!! LOL!