PUBLIC INPUT BEING SOUGHT
Despite the frigid weather, a decent-sized crowd turned out Wednesday, Jan. 17 for the first public meeting for developing the Missouri River North Trail.
The Missouri River North Trail project is a coordinated effort between Kansas City, North Kansas City, Riverside, and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to explore the possibility of providing a final link connecting the existing trail system in Platte, Clay, and Jackson counties.
The meeting featured a formal presentation about the multi-jurisdictional trail system, along with considerations and challenges of bridging the gap, and opportunities to provide public input.
Noel Bennion, capital projects and parks manager, and Mike Duffy, community development director for the City of Riverside, listened to comments and answered questions.
Jay Aber, a project manager with WSP, said the existing trail system includes the Line Creek Trail, Interurban Trail, North Oak Trail, Armour Road Cycle Track, future Burlington Cycle Track, and Chouteau Trail.
The goal of the Missouri River North Trail project is to determine how to connect these six trails and provide Northland residents access to parks, employment centers, and other destinations in the area.
The project is in the initial planning phase, which involves collecting public input, examining different concept options, and speaking with stakeholders. The planning process is expected to conclude this summer with a recommended trail alignment and cost estimate.
Kansas City, North Kansas City, and Riverside all have broad, long-term master planning documents and a key initiative of their comprehensive plan is to strive to provide recreational activities and multimodal transportation options to their residents, said Aber.
“It’s a goal of all the cities to make these connections and give people the opportunity to get outside to walk and bike more. Of course, we’re following millions of dollars of investments and dozens of miles of trails in the Northland. Making those connections—providing the missing link—provides a big potential for enhancing the multimodal options including the ability to walk and bike throughout the region,” said Aber.
So far, there are 106 miles of trails and protected bicycle lanes in the Northland, as well as 570 acres of park. Thirty miles of linear trails and physically separated bicycle lanes fall within the communities where the trail connection is being proposed.
In addition to providing a safe place for residents to engage in healthy recreational activities, trails function as transportation corridors and can help reduce roadway congestion.
“There are 10,000 downtown Kansas City workers that live within half a mile of a Northland trail,” said Aber. “There is a real viable opportunity if people want to bike downtown and we have this connection, then there are 10,000 people that could realistically bike to work.
“There are a lot of people within a very short distance of these trails, so if we can connect some of these final gaps then we could make this a very viable way to connect people to jobs, especially if people don’t have access to a car or prefer to get there by walking or biking.”
Aber said nine percent of households in the study area do not have access to a car and must rely on public transportation. The trail could help connect residents of all ages with the places they want to go. The study also found that 40 percent of all trips out of the house are 3 miles or less.
“That’s a distance that’s feasible for riding a bike or walking,” said Aber.
City leaders are aware the multi-use, paved trail project does involve overcoming some challenges. Highways, railroads, levees, and steep river bluffs are barriers that impact the connectivity of the proposed links.
While the connective links have yet to be drawn up, it is clear in certain areas in and around railroad tracks that connective links will not be a feasible option bordering the river.
Another consideration is the steep grades in and around certain areas including Waterworks Park. “It might not be as easy for people to walk or bike up steep inclines,” said Aber.
The outcome of the planning process will result in a preferred alignment of the trail. Funding for the construction of the trail is expected to be complex and may involve federal grants.
Residents are encouraged to share their input online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/MORiverNorthTrail.