Connecting the Blue River Parkway trails with the Swope Park trails. Due to various obstacles,
this will consist of several trail segments east of Blue River Rd--dropping onto Blue River Rd. for short stretches to
bypass things like private property, I-435, Bannister Rd, 71 Highway, and the Fire Fighter's
memorial. Eventually, the "Trails KC!" project plans to run a gravel/chat/paved trail (most likely
on the west side of the river) all the way from Swope Park to Jerry Smith Park (east of the power
substation that is down by Martin City).
Status: Underway! General planning has been completed and we intend to start
routing the first section of the trail shortly. It will take several years to complete
this vision (a wild idea Phil Scherer grabbed by the horns and is running with--he deserves
a lot of kudos for keeping this moving).
Re-route/smooth out the lower trail where it begins at the new junction to be more consistent with
its status of an easier intermediate trail.
Note that nothing is cast in concrete, so all of the above ideas are subject to
change. In particular, the above list is rather aggressive so it will take a lot of work to
get all of those tasks done. Please keep your ears and eyes open for our work days in the late fall and
through the winter. Be sure to bring as many of your buddies as possible. Note: In addition to the scheduled "big" workdays, someone
will be working several weekends through the late fall and winter, so contact
Rob Stitt (rob@robstitt.com or 816-246-4051) if you're interested in
helping.
Consider a new river crossing just before the railroad track near Holmes.
Status: Not started. This needs a real bridge (low water or suspension) and would
require a significant amount of money (and engineering and approval). The current city-wide
trails plan will likely make this connection possible.
Knock the berms down on the Serengeti trail and possibly re-route a section of the Serengeti
trail (on the south end, just before the meadow) that is currently a mud-hole.
Close or repair several of the trails that shoot off of the
railroad grade trail west of Blue River to eliminate some confusion and eliminate some
sections that are in poor shape (possibly closing some of the low sections, fix some issues
on the technical offshoot just south of the sign board, consider re-routing the offshoot on the
south end so that it runs closer to the railroad tracks).
Re-route and connect some trails to create a beginner's loop near the main trail head