Here is yet another trail-related item from a KC-area suburb! The Examiner reports that this spring Independence and Jackson County will extend the trail that runs through the Little Blue Trace nature preserve. This popular 11 mile streamway trail follows the Little Blue River from US 24 down to the big box retail district at I-70 and Little Blue Parkway. The planned 3.5 mile extension will take the trail south of I-70 and west to Lee’s Summit Road.
MetroGreen, the regional trail plan, envisions a 24 mile mile along the Little Blue from the Missouri River to Longview Lake. The latest extensions is paying paid for with a combination of local money and Transportation Enhancements funds from the federal government.
- Little Blue Trace trail info/map from Jackson County Parks and Rec.
- Independence Examiner: Still in the works to grow Little Blue Trace.
- KCBike.Info’s map of Little Blue trail and extension.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Independence ExaminerStill in the works to grow Little Blue Trace
Construction slated for spring 2008By Rhiannon Ross | Rhiannon.ross@examiner.net
A favorite local trail will be several miles longer, but not just yet.
Plans to extend the Little Blue Trace trail by 3.5 miles over the summer and fall did not happen.
“It’s still in the works,” said Tom Garland, parks contract manager for Independence Parks and Recreation. “We had plans to do it in the summer and fall but were unable to do it.”
Garland spearheaded the effort for the city, which will extend the 11-mile gravel trail from Interstate 70 south to Lee’s Summit Road, following the Little Blue River.
“The logistics of getting all of the required information to start the project took some time that we weren’t anticipating,” he said. “We had to work with the federal government and the state highway department and the city of Independence and Jackson County, so working with all of those groups together was a little complicated, but I think we’re on the downhill side of all of that.”
He also cited winter weather as a reason.
“It’s not really the best time to construct a trail. So once we get warmer temperatures, we’ll kick the project back up again.”
Construction is now slated to begin in spring 2008.
Both Independence Parks and Recreation and Jackson County Parks and Recreation applied for, and received, grants from the Missouri Department of Transportation to extend the trail.
Transportation enhancement grants are not directly automobile-related but are used instead for such efforts as the beautification of walking and bike trails. The grants, established under the Intermodel Surface Transportation Equity Act in 1991, require each state to save 10 percent of their surface transportation funds to be used on activities other than roads.
Independence received $175,185 from the grant, with a city match of $58,395, to extend the trail by 1 mile. City money will be derived from a combination of both city funds and the Eastland tax increment financing bond. The 1-mile extension in Independence will complete the trail within Independence.
Jackson County received $473,000 from the grant, with a county match of $157,677, to extend the trail by 2.5 miles. The County Legislature just approved its share of the funding last week.
The Little Blue Trace borders Little Blue River from Longview Lake north to Blue Mills Road.
Future plans include extending the park’s recreational trail system to the entire 24 miles of the greenway, which will become a main artery of the MetroGreen Plan. MetroGreen is a proposed 1,144-mile interconnected system of public and private open spaces, greenways and trails designed to link seven counties in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
I know this is an old article, but I’d really like to see this extension happen. I ride the trace weekly on my bike and I’ve gotten to where I can easily complete the entire 22 mile round trip and have started adding on by riding the roads north of Blue Mills Road to make it a 27 mile ride. I’d much prefer to extend the gravel trail for extra mileage.
The trace is a very nice asset to KC bike riders and runners. I do enjoy the more rugged terrain of Landahl park for mountain biking, but it’s frequently unrideable due to weather, so I hit the Little Blue Trace often for endurance building.
Well, here it is, the summer of 2009 and not one inch has been added to the trail. It still dead-ends behind the Hilton Inn at I-70. Why am I not surprised?
Incidentally, the gravel portion of the trail is indeed 11 miles long. But the trail continues southward on concrete for nearly another mile. (The end of the trail used to be at a gravel parking lot on the east side of Blue Parkway. That parking lot has been removed in favor of a new one next to the Armed Forces recuiting center.)
The mileages shown on the county map of Little Blue Trace do not correspond to the mile markers posted along the trail itself. For instance, the 9 mile marker is right at the Necessary Road parking lot. If you are not familiar with the trail, the mile markers consist of small, flat concrete slabs with the mileage painted on them. It’s easy to pass them by without noticing.
Be careful when going under the KCS railroad bridge near the south end, at mile marker 11.1. There is a blind curve there and the trail gets narrow and muddy, and it slopes the wrong way. It could make for a bad spill if two opposing cyclers (or a biker and a hiker) should meet at that exact spot.
I would like to know what happened to this:
Independence received $175,185 from the grant, with a city match of $58,395, to extend the trail by 1 mile. City money will be derived from a combination of both city funds and the Eastland tax increment financing bond. The 1-mile extension in Independence will complete the trail within Independence.
Jackson County received $473,000 from the grant, with a county match of $157,677, to extend the trail by 2.5 miles. The County Legislature just approved its share of the funding last week.
I am sure it is drawing interest and has grown enough to add another couple miles to the trail…? Mind boggling!
Very nice trail… its the politics that stink.
The trail still comes to an abrupt end behind the Hilton Inn at I-70, with no sign of the promised extension. But there have been some minor improvements elsewhere.
That bad spot underneath the 1900 railroad bridge at mile marker 11.1 has been paved in concrete. This improvement has taken place in the last few weeks. And although it’s still a relatively sharp curve, it is now wider and flater–much easier and safer than before.
Some concrete has also been added just north of the Pink Hill Road overpass, where the trail enters the “enchanted forest.” (I call it that because it is a cool, refreshing tunnel of shade that runs for a couple hundred yards. Very pleasant on a hot day.) This new concrete takes care of a perennial washout area.
A couple of other places where heavy rains usually leave a rut have so far not developed this spring. One of them is at about mile marker 10.4. There is a little bump there, but nothing bad. There is also a place, at mile marker 9.3, where the gravel often washes down into a pile and creates a soft spot that can cause problems for narrow bike tires. It’s not as bad right now as it was much of last summer.
A lot of debris has collected on the concrete trailway under the Bundshu Road bridge. Just be careful and watch for walkers/cyclists coming from the opposite direction when you go under there.
There are the usual puddles in certain spots that stay wet for two or three days after a rain. There are too many to list, but the worst ones are north of RD Mize Road and at the north end of the enchanted forest, mile marker 10.6. I find that it is easier to slow down and go right through the puddles than to get bogged down in the wet grass alongside. But I have fenders on my bike, so I don’t get water and mud splattered up my back everytime I run through a puddle.
In the spring and early summer of each year we get a lot of new walkers and riders who don’t read the signs about staying to the right and passing on the left. When you overtake them, they may scatter in any direction. Be prepared for it. A horn or bell on your bike is a good way of letting them know you are coming. If not that, then cough or speak out to warn them of your approach.
I expect that the county will be too hard pressed to do much grading on the trail this year, but if the Little Blue will just stay in its banks, we should have a good trail season.
At last, it might happen. Jackson County public works department this day announced that it will accept construction bid proposals for the Little Blue Trace Trail Phase II.
The construction bids are for 3.4 miles of new trail between I-70 and Lee’s Summit Road. Of that extension, 0.8 miles will be concrete surface, with the remainder to be surfaced in “limestone aggregate,” meaning pea gravel.
The bids will be opened on May 25, 2010. There is no announced time frame for construction of the trail extension. We can keep our fingers crossed that it might be completed by fall.
It’s open From Blue Mills Rd to Lee’s Summit Rd. May 2011
I love this trail. I was thrilled to hear another mile will be added to the new extension. I hope KCMO & Jackson County can continue to push to get the next 12 miles mentioned in last Sunday’s paper to reality. With that complete, Little Blue and Longview Trails will connect and provide lots of miles to travel.
Ride on!