Connect the Flint Hills Nature Trail to the Katy Trail

Editorial

Kansas City Star

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback raised an intriguing prospect recently when he spoke at a breakfast sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. An item on his wish list, Brownback said, is to connect the Katy Trail inMissouri with the Flint Hills Nature Trail in his state.

Hey, sounds like bi-state cooperation. Not to mention a thoroughly appealing idea. In fact, it’s been a long-term vision of BikeWalkKC, the nonprofit group. The Kansas City region would benefit abundantly from being a hub in a trail network that would begin near St. Charles, Mo., on the east and extend to Herington, Kan. (near Council Grove) on the west.

It won’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen at all without support from dedicated volunteers and public officials. But that’s usually the story with trails; public-private partnerships are their lifeblood.

While the Katy Trail, the nation’s largest rails-to-trails project at 239-miles-long, has been a fixture of Missouri tourism for more than 20 years, the Flint Hills Nature Trail is less well known. That’s because it is a work in progress.

About 70 miles of the 117-mile trail are developed, thanks almost exclusively to the hard work of volunteers. Organized as the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy, supporters use private donations and sweat equity to get the trail cleared, graded and sealed with limestone, and the bridges in shape.

“It takes me about three eight-hour days to mow,” said Doug Walker, who lives in Osawatomie and tends to the 17-mile stretch between there andOttawa.

The trail offers a serene interlude, with parts flanking the Marais des Cygnes River. Trees form a canopy in some places. Birds swoop among them, and Walker has seen raccoons, wild turkey and deer. On sections farther west, in tallgrass prairie country, one can watch the grasses ripple like waves.

A former president and now vice president of the Kanza Conservancy, Walker is most gratified by sightings of the human variety. The trail is popular among horseback riders, bikers and walkers.

“Every time you see a family out here it just validates what you’re doing,”Walker said.

Volunteers have done remarkable work on the Flint Hills Nature Trail, but the task is huge. Prompted by Brownback’s genuine interest, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has been beating the bushes, looking for money to accelerate construction.

That effort has landed a $1.5 million federal transportation enhancement grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Those funds will be combined with other money from the state wildlife department and the Kanza Conservancy, amounting to about $2.4 million. That should be enough to complete the trail.

“We’re confident that in the next year and a half we’ll have it done,”Walker said.

Once the Flint Hills Nature Trail is complete, achieving Brownback’s vision would require an extension east of Osawatomie to the Kansas City area, about 60 miles away. That will be made more difficult because the old rail bed that forms the route of the Flint Hills Trail ends at Osawatomie.

And then there’s the longstanding — and frustrating — task of extending the Katy Trail west to Kansas City. It currently stops at Clinton. A project to build a connector between Pleasant Hill and Windsor, announced four years ago, is moving at a snail’s pace. And hopes for linking Pleasant Hill to eastern JacksonCounty and into Kansas City are stalled along with a commuter rail plan being pushed by Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders.

Still, imagine being able to hop on a bike trail and travel for miles into either Kansas or Missouri. Imagine the possibilities for restaurants and inns and shops at the trailheads. Imagine the tourism potential.

Everything that’s been accomplished with the Katy Trail and Flint Hills Nature Trail began with engaged citizens and continued with receptive public officials. Now is the time to ramp up those alliances and get the job done.

Connect the trails and we’ll have a bi-state celebration.

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Connect the Flint Hills Nature Trail to the Katy Trail

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