Reply to Pleansant Hill Katy Trail

My husband & I rode from Pleansant Hill Katy Trail from one car park area to the next. End of June 2012 Both parking lots are good. Bill boards up, waiting for maps. Picnic table. Some of trail is a little rough but we made it through. Am seeing the vision of connecting to Windsor someday. And the vision of it connecting to KC Sports Stadium area and then on into Union Station by WWI Memorial site. The vision is coming together step by step. So exciting to see. Thank you everyone before us that is getting this all going so we can fight for healthier lives. God bless you all. Especially the ones doing the work. That is very hard labor of love passion to bring this into reality.

That sounds good D&L! Looking forward to when that section is finished, hopefully in my life time. :) It has been slow, but any progress on completing that section is exciting. Thanks for the report.

How many miles of the part of the trail is completed mow?

Mow? I meant now.

IS the trail south of pleasant hill? How many miles it this trail and where does it hit the kady trail?

The connector between Pleasant Hill and Windsor is the Rock Island Trail State Park. There is a map at mostateparks dot com.

I believe this connector -- the Rock Island State Park is "under development" and won't available to ride for a while yet. It will be great when it is completed.

FYI, there is going to be a run on Oct. 27 in Pleasant Hill, MO, 1/2 marathon and 5K, called the Rock Island Run I, which is supposed to utilize sections of the trail already completed. I am trying to get more info on it but they are accepting registrations right now.

We rode the connector this past weekend. The trail is NOT open but you would never know if you park in the Purvis Rd lot. The trail goes for 3 miles and ends at another parking lot. Every cross road on the return trip were clearly marked with closed signs. The trail is hard to ride as the gravel is way too large and there were trees down in the trail. There has been NO work done on the trail for quite some time. My wife was not happy with me for taking her there and suggested that I move back to my mom's basement. On a note of redemption they are building a nice bike/walking trail north of town and I am not sure where it will go and only 1.75 miles is completed. I feel all work has been stopped on the Katy Connector to Windsor. If someone knows different I would love to know.

KB, I know how your wife feels. My husband did the same thing to me!

If you had 1000 cycling enthusiasts in front of you, what would you tell them about the Katy Trail Pleasant Hill Extension if you wanted to get something done and garner support for the project?

More info.can be found on Rock Island Run 1 at sdmg.co/rockislandrun or facebook.com/rockislandrun or call (816)353-3149 ask for BJ,contact info.bjthedj.com(organizer of event)

Rock Island Corridor Update: I received this via email from the the lady at Mid-Admerica Regional Council:
Thank you for contacting me about the Rock Island corridor. We are currently undertaking some planning around possible future transit station/trail head locations. We had two public meetings this week (Monday and Tuesday). We will be conducting a second round of meetings in late January/early February.

Jackson County is working on the acquisition of the line from the Sports Complex to Hamlen Road in southern Lee's Summit. Pleasant Hill is working on construction of a trail from their fairgrounds (where the Missouri KATY Trail connection will come into their city) through their downtown to the city lake. They expect to begin construction on the last portion of that trail before the end of the year. There is actually a 5K run in the Pleasant Hill area this Saturday to benefit the Missouri Bicycle Pedestrian Federation (I'll forward the email separately).

The state Division of Parks is working on the KATY Trail connection from Windsor to Pleasant Hill. They have constructed a segment east of Pleasant Hill and expect the rail banking of the segment from Pleasant Hill to P Highway to be completed in the next several weeks. They will then continue their construction of the trail close to Pleasant Hill. They are also beginning work with Ameren UE on the railbanking of the portion from P Highway to Windsor and expect that to be completed by the end of 2013. The construction of that portion will then begin in 2014. They will have to replace 3 bridges but feel they have the funds for the completion of the project.

There are several things that you might do to support the effort:
1) communicate to your local and state officials about support for both the KATY Trail connection's completion from Windsor to Pleasant Hill
2) communicate to these same officials about your support for a trail along the corridor from Pleasant H