Utility opens way for development of cross-state Rock Island Trail

A 144-mile section of the former Rock Island rail corridor across Missouri is now more likely to become a hiking and biking trail thanks to its owner’s decision to abandon the unused rail line.

State and national trail advocates called the move by St. Louis-based utility Ameren Missouri a major milestone.

“This represents one of the great victories of the rail-trail movement over the past decade,” Keith Laughlin, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Rails to Trails Conservancy, wrote in a blog post.

The trail might not be finished for decades, said Brent Hugh at the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. But once developed, it would intersect the cross-state Katy Trail, creating a 450-mile network.

The Rails to Trails Conservancy submitted a bid to buy the corridor when it came up for sale this summer. Ameren recently rejected that bid, but the conservancy got what it really wanted when the company notified the federal government of its plan to abandon the line, which hasn’t had train traffic on it for more than 30 years.

If regulators approve, that would preserve the corridor for trail use. After removing the rails, Ameren would turn it over to the state, which would build the trail as funding allowed.

Already, work is under way to develop a trail along a different, 46-mile segment of the Rock Island linking the Kansas City area with the Katy.

This week’s move opens the possibility that the Rock Island Trail would be further extended to the east.

Ameren’s decision was “an example of very good corporate responsibility,” Hugh said.

“They are going out of their way,” he said, “and taking on some considerable expense and trouble to ensure that the line is railbanked properly and is donated to the Missouri State Parks in the end.”

Ameren declined to discuss the bidding process that led to its decision.

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Utility opens way for development of cross-state Rock Island Trail."