Katy Trail to Washington Via Highway 94 and 47

For those planning to travel to Washington MO from the Katy Trail via State Highway 94, then 47, both highways have been resurfaced and now have 3-4 feet wide paved shoulders. I rode the KT from Clinton to Washington 19-22 June, and while the two highways still needed striping, this may have been finished by now. I considered riding the Augusta Bottom Road, as has been recommended elsewhere, but that route was exceptionally dusty and traffic seems to go faster on that road than the highways. One can see where this road joins Hwy 47 just by the dust clouds. With paved shoulders, the route to Washington is not as sporting as it once was, and while leaving the KT at Dutzow and riding in traffic on Hwy 94 can be unnerving to some, it's not as horrible as has been portrayed. Crossing the Missouri River via the bridge bike lane is super; I like it much better than the Boonville crossing. Navigating Washington is pretty easy, although you'll be riding in traffic once you cross the bridge regardless of where you're heading. I stayed at the Best Western in Washington, which is bike-friendly and easy to get to except for that last hill on 5th St just before the hotel. Overall, except for some blowdowns near Calhoun (gone by now I'm sure), the trail conditions were as good as I can remember in the the four trips I've done over the years. A little warm and dusty, but that's summer. Good riding.

Does anyone have some more recent experience taking the route on highways 94 and 47 into Washington, since they have apparently been repaved and restriped?  Is it now any better/safer for riding into Washington from the Katy Trail?  I've also read about using Augusta Bottom road as an alternative, but that doesn’t sound like a very safe route either. And, maybe with the improvements in the 94/47 route, Augusta Bottom road is no longer the preferred alternative?

Any fresh intel on biking the new shoulders on Hwy 94&47? Is it comparable to the ride into Hermann from McKittrick on Hwy 19 (wide shoulder but lots of traffic).

On Sept 14, my son and I embark on our 4th KATY ride and will stay at the Old Dutch in Washington. I would greatly appreciate comments from anyone who has recently traveled the shoulders on 94 & 47 into Washington. I would love to avoid a dusty, rocky Augusta Bottom Road. Thanks!

Maybe a call to MODOT or the Old Dutch in Washington would generate a viable answer.

Good thought

We rode the shoulders of 94&47 on September 18 & 19. It was not our most pleasant stretch of our trek but would do it again.

Hwy94 is short with less traffic and got us from the Dutzow trailhead to Hwy 47.

Hwy 47 is, as the OP stated freshly repaved with 3 to 8 ft shoulders. The intersection of the two does not have pedestrian crossing signals as they are highways. The speed limit is 55 on hwy 47.

On 47, the shoulder is narrow on the West side, just north of the bridge for about 50ft stretch. It widens to 8 ft from that point to the airport (going north) then narrow to approx 6ft from airport to the intersection of 94.

The east side is not as narrow and I believe there is a path just before the bridge that goes under to connect east and west side shoulders.

We chose to ride facing traffic so rode into Washington on the east shoulder at 3pm on Monday and out of Washington on the west side at 10am on Tuesday.

Traffic was heavier in the afternoon. Traffic included dump trucks and semis. No vehicles crossed over onto the shoulder for either leg but the trucks did push a lot of air.

The new bridge over the Missouri has a great segregated bike path just like Hermann.

We stayed alert for both rides, faced the flow of traffic and would do it again.