The state of Missouri on Sept. 16, 1986, announced plans to turn the part of the abandoned Missouri-Kansas-Railroad line into what would eventually become known as the Katy Trail and stretch 240 miles, the longest rail-trail in the United States, with the first segment officially opening in 1990. The following report was published Sept. 17, 1986, in the Post-Dispatch.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources plans to acquire a 200-mile rail line from St. Charles County to Sedalia and to develop two segments as recreational trails.
Frederick A. Brunner, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said Tuesday that the department would probably develop the sections from St. Charles to the Washington area and from Jefferson City to Rocheport into hiking-biking trails.
The two segments total about 60 miles. If the pilot project proves successful, additional segments may be developed, he said. The rail line runs parallel to the historic route of Lewis and Clark along the northern bank of the Missouri River from Machens in northern St. Charles County to Boonville. It then crosses the river and angles through the countryside to Sedalia.
“I’m very, very pleased.” Brunner said. “For me, it is the realization of a goal. The one thing I felt our state park system needed was a good trail for hiking and biking. It provides freedom and an open feeling, and passes through some of the most scenic communities we have.”
The Missouri-Kansas-Railroad known as the Katy, filed a petition Aug. 21 with the Interstate Commerce Commission, asking to abandon the rail line because it was no longer profitable.
Tuesday was the deadline for the state to express interest in the land.
Brunner said development of the pilot trails depended on the outcome of negotiations between the department and the railroad. “We’re about two weeks away from an agreement,” he said.
The cost of acquiring the rail line and developing the pilot trails would be paid from the sales tax of a tenth of a cent for state parks and soil conservation, Brunner said.
He estimated that it would cost $5,000 a mile to install a 7-foot-wide trail surface of crushed limestone and to plank railroad bridges. Building restrooms and campsites and fencing adjacent land would cost extra, he said.
Brunner said he expected it would take about nine months for the department to get an appropriation from the sales tax and several years to complete the pilot trails.
Brunner said Gov. John D. Ashcroft had sent a him a letter instructing the department to minimize the amount of tax dollars for the project and to protect the interest of adjacent landowners.
“Gov. Ashcroft has instructed us to concentrate in the pilot program only on those portions of the corridor which offer scenic opportunities in populated areas,” he said.
Brunner said he anticipated considering a system of voluntary contributions to defray part of the cost of trail development and operation. “This type of financing has been successful in other areas of the country,” he said.
Brunner said Ashcroft had asked that other parts of the rail corridor not be considered for development until the pilot program could be evaluated properly.
He said that would take two or three years of trail operation.
Aschroft wrote: “Any development beyond the pilot areas would depend on the economic and recreational benefits of the pilot project, the effect of the project on adjacent landowners and General Assembly and administration approval.”
Brunner said the department would hold public meetings in towns along the segments of the rail line proposed for the pilot trails. He said Ashcroft directed the department to give high priority to security.
Ashcroft wrote: “For those portions of the corridor not in the pilot project, I expect the department to do whatever is necessary to make them available for use by the original landowners.”
Brunner said public access to undeveloped parts of the rail corridor will be restricted. He said the department will provide safeguards for adjacent landowners, including fencing, drainage control and levee maintenance.
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