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Katy Trail offshoot proposed

Officials in Portage des Sioux, Mo., are mulling an offshoot of the Katy Trail that would connect the Mississippi River community with the 225-plus mile trail.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the town's leaders are planning a meeting for 7 p.m. Monday at the Portage des Sioux City Hall to gauge reaction to the trail, which would take cyclists to the town's nature area that was created after the Flood of 1993.

A route has yet to be selected, but Mayor Mark Warner told the Post-Dispatch one logical choice would be a shoulder of a mile-long stretch of Payne Road between the town and the eastern tip of the Katy Trail in the Machens area.

Missouri officials are hoping to complete the Katy Trail between Machens and St. Charles by later this year.

Portage des Sioux is best known for the Our Lady of the Rivers statue, which overlooks the Mississippi River at the bluffs across the river near Elsah, Ill. The statue is the home of the annual Blessing of the Fleet. The statue was completed in 1957 after the community was spared by a flood in 1951.

While I think the spur to Portage des Sioux would be a great idea, I personally am in favor of a trail that would tie the Katy to the Clark Bridge in Alton, Ill., and tie the Katy into Madison County's extensive trail system.

Labels: Katy Trail, Missouri, trails

Roger 2 comments 11:12 AM

Comments:

There is a link between Machens and Alton. From Alton you then have access to the Levee trail and MCT. The old route 67 leading up to the Lewis and Clark bridge is a bike way and there are dedicated bike ramps to/from the bridge. We just need the KATY to be finished from St. Charles to Machens.

# posted by  TC : 11:53 AM

 

TC, you're right about a crushed limestone trail from the Clark Bridge down to West Alton, but I don't know of a trail from West Alton to Machens, although there's on-road connections between the two towns,

# posted by  Roger : 12:15 PM

 

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