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More on Madison County Trails

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a nice story today about the extensive trail system that Madison County Transit has put together.

I've written about the trails many times on this blog, and story repeats much of that, including the fact that the Madison County trails actually go places and link up with one another quite well.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

(Madison County Transit director Jerry) Kane said the county's original plan was to grab the lines for future MetroLink expansion and to use them, in the meantime, as bike and pedestrian paths.

The district ended up getting enough easements so that future light rail lines can run alongside the bike paths.

"Initially, there were complaints from people who feared their privacy would be invaded," Kane said. "Today, the complaints are from people who want to know when they'll get their spur (link) to the trails."

Contrast that with the narrow-minded response of many residents of Maryland Heights, Mo., when they objected to the construction of trails in their community. According to the community's newsletter (PDF file), opponents feared crime, invasion of privacy, lowered property values, trash, trespassing and losing their property to eminent domain. Those misplaced fears pretty much killed any hope of a trail in that community.

Roger 0 comments 1:29 PM