South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Great Rivers Greenway to unveil plans for new Grant’s Trail extension

Tonight, the Great Rivers Greenway District will present a plan to the public that would make the St. Louis region an even better place to live for residents throughout the region, particularly those from Kirkwood to Lemay, according to a press release.

Representatives from Great Rivers Greenway and architect DG/RE studio will be on hand from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Grant’s Shelter at Jefferson Barracks Park, 305 Gregg Road, to discuss the plans.

The plan would extend Grant’s Trail, the bicycle and pedestrian “superhighway” of the St. Louis region, to a total of 10 miles. The trail serves more than 650,000 users each year. Construction of the two-mile extension is estimated to begin in 2014 with completion in 2015.

Once completed, the extension would begin where Grant’s Trail currently ends, near Interstate 55 and Union Road, and connect cyclists and other Grant’s Trail users from Kirkwood to Lemay along the Gravois Greenway. The trail would ultimately tie into the River des Peres Greenway at Lemay Park, providing more than 16 miles of through connectivity. This is a critically important connection to the Great Rivers Greenway River Ring concept, the release stated.

The open house is standard procedure for the district, which works to include residents in the planning process of all major projects because it is an organization funded by the people for the purpose of making the St. Louis region a better place to live.

“We believe that one of the most important ways we can improve the qualify of life for St. Louis area residents is to provide them with clean, green transportation options, and so we are working to provide a connected system that allows users to connect across the region by foot or on-bike,” Susan Trautman, executive director for Great Rivers Greenway, stated in the release. “Our greenways are a bike and pedestrian system made especially for our residents. We feel it’s very important to include them in every step of the process with open houses like these.”