Is a moment at hand for Missouri to become premier cycling destination?

[Wingnut]

The addition of the Rock Island Line would be huge.   I have ridden the KATY from end to end..250 miles 3 times.   I would love to travel this new rails to trails path!



Think passion, and you think place. Think snow skiing, for example, and you think Colorado. Think fly fishing, and you think Montana.

It’s not that you can’t snow ski elsewhere or fly fish countless other places, but because of a combination of good fortune, vision and by seized momentum, these places have become synonymous with a particular passion. They own it.

What if, when you think cycling, your mind shifted to Missouri? Could we become the state identified with that passion, an identity built on one of the best, oldest and longest rail-to-trail networks in the country?

Fortune has smiled on Missouri, Greg Harris told me last week. He is executive director of Missouri Rock Island Trail Inc., and he said rail routes that were put together more than a century ago — including land acquisition, grading, leveling and bridging — create opportunities for a new generation and new modes of transportation.

It’s a question of vision and seizing momentum when the moment appears.

Harris said one of those moments is nearly here.

Sometime this fall, salvage work for rails and ties will be completed on the 144-mile Rock Island line that crosses much of the state on the south side of the Missouri River.

At that point, it can be transferred to the state — but the state must accept it.

Accepting ownership of the line would ratchet up Missouri’s reputation as the country’s premier rail-to-trail and cycling destination and all that that means for tourism and economic development.

Missouri already has the longest rail-to-trail route in the country, the 290-mile Katy Trail on the north side of the river, anchored on each end by a major city and passing through many smaller communities along the way. Like Missouri’s park system — of which it is a part — the Katy is the envy of other states.

http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/lifestyles/andy-ostmeyer-is-a-moment-at-hand-for-missouri-to/article_568a4708-1adc-5ec8-a381-6331a8852d1a.html

[truth_seeker]

It looks like beautiful, scenic country. Too hot and humid for this one, however.

[Free Vulcan]

I've done some riding in NE MO. Those old sealcoat roads follow the lay of the land and they are awesome to ride.

[Wingnut]

It looks like beautiful, scenic country. Too hot and humid for this one, however.

Missouri in the summer is a tad humid.  Just came back from riding 5 days on the KATY.   But the Fall is great!

[Sanguine]

Missouri in the summer is a tad humid.  Just came back from riding 5 days on the KATY.   But the Fall is great!

As in:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvfWdsFQysA?

[anubias]

Missouri's Rock Island Trail is now a reality! With a little momentum, and some push from the affected communities, the Rock Island will continue to grow and Missouri will remain the rails-to-trails destination of North America.

Missouri State Parks refers to the trail as the Rock Island Spur of the Katy Trail. These two trails already intersect in western Missouri, and eventually could connect a few hundred miles to the east as well.

About the Rock Island Trail in MO

The Rock Island Trail is a "rails-to-trails" trail which will stretch over 200 miles across the state of Missouri. It will intersect the Katy Trail on both the western and eastern sides of the state, forming a 450 mile loop.

The trail is already open between Windsor and Pleasant Hill. It will continue to expand westward into Kansas City's suburbs, and eastward toward the St Louis area.

Katy Trail Connection

Missouri's Katy Trail is a "must ride" for touring cyclists from all over the country, offering over 200 miles of scenic uninterrupted trail. The citizens of Missouri are fortunate to have this jewel in their backyard, but the one shortfall of the Katy Trail is its distance from Kansas City. The trail is easily accessible to the population centers of St Louis, Columbia, and Jefferson City, but over an hour's drive away from Kansas City. This is because the MKT railroad, which formed the basis for the Katy Trail, simply did not approach the Kansas City area.

In 2008, as part of a settlement over the Taum Sauk Dam disaster, Ameren Corporation give the state of Missouri control over a portion of the old Rock Island railroad right-of-way. This section runs from Windsor, where it intersects the Katy Trail, northwest into the suburbs of Kansas City.

Longer term, the Rock Island Trail will reach Washington, which is just across the Missouri River (and a few miles) from the Dutzow trailhead on the Katy Trail.

http://www.bikerockisland.com