Parks + Rec staff helps Mo Parks with trail plans

Published on March 01, 2022

In December 2021 the Missouri Central Railroad Company donated 144 miles of the Rock Island Corridor to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources which will be developed into a trail.

The corridor runs through central Missouri and development of the trail will occur in sections over several years, as each section of the corridor has different features and challenges. To help with those challenges, Missouri State Parks has turned to the experts at Jackson County Parks + Rec for ideas.

According to Rock Island Program Manager Matt Davis, a group of six from Missouri State Parks, including Director David Kelley, visited with Jackson County staff and toured Jackson County’s Rock Island Trail.

Along with Davis, Landscape Architect Bruce Wilke, Deputy Director of Park Operations Brian Nowotny, Parks Director Michele Newman and Legislator Tony Miller were part of the discussion.

“Their visit was to look at the repairs we made to the Vale tunnel, including superficial concrete repairs, lighting and concrete trail surface. They also wanted to look at how we re-used rail bridges for trail bridges,” Davis said.

The state trail has three tunnels (approximately 1700 ft, 1400 ft and 700 feet long) and several rail bridges which will need to be rehabbed and convert to trail bridges, so the visit was to see how the county did it in preparation for their project.

“It sounds like they will make similar repairs to their tunnel and bridges, pending engineering reviews of those structures and the subsequent repair recommendations,” Davis said. “Understanding that our experience is greatly helpful to their planning process, we shared as much information as possible regarding our project.”

He said the group also discussed the county’s desire to connect with the Katy Trail by going through Greenwood and its importance to the statewide trail system.

Miller said that with the state connecting the new trail to the Katy Trail it would create a giant loop and attract tourism.

“I left that meeting feeling really encouraged about the future of this whole system and with our piece of it. How our trail is going to connect through Greenwood with those plans and the work that is currently on the books to connect to the Little Blue Trace,” he said. “It was a good day for Jackson County, and it was a good collaboration with the state.”

In January 2022, Missouri State Parks held Rock Island Corridor public meetings in Versailles, Owensville and Freeburg. The open house-style meetings gathered public input and gathered the needs and goals of each community and the landowners along the corridor. The meetings included information about trail development and operations, public safety, landowner and real estate topics, grant opportunities and future partnership opportunities.

For more information on Missouri State Parks Rock Island Line Corridor