Westernmost section of Rock Island Trail opens in Jackson County - completing decades-long statewide trail vision (July 2021).Summary of the Rock Island Trail history, situation, and future potential.More about Missouri's potential statewide trail - the Rock Island Trail: Stay tuned - we're in for an interesting ride.Īnd keep the faith - because many Rock Island allies across the state are working to ensure the corridor is preserved and used as a trail, via the current plan if it works, or by other means if not. What will happen as the clock runs out in December, 2021? Will State Parks and Ameren negotiate an extension? Will an extension allow time to raise the remainder of the needed $9.8 million? If it doesn't, what will be the Plan B? The completion of the Rock Island Trail is going to be a very good project for Missouri, its communities, its citizens, its businesses, its health, and its economy. Support for the trail in those parts of the state is not unanimous - it never is! - but it runs very, very high. The Rock Island corridor happens to run through a section of the state with very little access to State Parks-and a section of the state that could stand to benefit from the improved health, livability, outdoor recreation opportunity, local and international tourism, and talent/business retention a major trail like the Rock Island would provide.
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Later, Missouri State Parks held a series of citizen meetings about the future of the trail, where over 97% of citizens comments were supportive of moving forward with the trail.
The section under discussion is the 144-miles shown in red on this map. When combined with the Katy Trail, the Rock Island/Katy system has potentially over 500 miles across Missouri, including a conveniently connected mid-state loop. You may recall that Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc-the grass roots group of Rock Island supporters from communities all along the trail-worked together with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and MoBikeFed back in 2014 to present over 12,000 citizen signatures to Ameren and Missouri State officials, which provided a good deal of the impetus and citizen support needed to move the deal forward on both sides.
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When the trail was finally built and opened in 2016, the project had moved from a trail easement to a full donation of the railroad corridor, along with funding to build the trail.Īlong the way to the 47 miles, Ameren realized it would like to donate the next 144 miles of the Rock Island corridor for trail use as well.Īmeren has been working to donate that 144-mile portion of the corridor to State Parks since 2014. Rock Island Background - 47 miles starting in 2005, 144 more miles starting in 2014Īmeren agreed to donate a trail easement for the 47-mile Katy-Kansas City connecting trail in 2005, after the Taum Sauk disaster. The president of the Missouri State Parks Foundation, the entity put in charge of raising $9.8 million as a down payment on the 144-mile section, said the organization had raised about $1 million. Parks boosters working to fund the 144-mile Rock Island Corridor are millions of dollars short of their fundraising goal with just five months to go in a two-year campaign. Now, with about five months to go until the deadline created by that agreement, the effort to raise the $9.8 million seems to be falling short: However, there was a big catch: To finalize the transfer, Missouri State Parks and its supporter had to raise $9.8 million dollars in private or other non-state, non-state parks funding, so that Missouri State Parks could accept the corridor.īuilding statewide trail connections, preserving trail corridors like the Rock Island, and taking full advantage of your trail connection when it finally happens, will be some of the main topics of discussion at the Missouri Active Transportation Summit, Friday August 13th, 2021. to present over 12,000 signatures of support for the Rock Island Trail to Ameren and Missouri State Parks In 2014, MoBikeFed partnered with Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and thousands of supporting organizations and individuals across Missouri and the U.S.
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