By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The City of St. Joseph has, for years, been working to expand and improve its trails.
Just last year, the city completed a trail maintenance and repair program, fixing cracks and every day wear and tear on several trails in the city.
One trail particular, the Chicago Great Western Branch Trail, has come up several times in recent history.
The most recent proposal was to expand and connect it with others throughout the state, creating a multi-state system in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
"That's not why St. Joe was ever interested in building trails," said St. Joseph Public Works director Andy Clements. "It was to connect our communities. But, when you have the bonus of working regionally with other folks and certain routes have more importance, that's great."
However, portions of the would-be trail expansion would go onto private property, requiring property easement acquisitions.
Walter Gray, owner of Gray's Garage in St. Joseph, asked the city for $300,000 before putting a trail on his property.
Gray’s neighbors have expressed safety concerns about having public trails so close to their homes.
"You start to impact property owners to where you need easements," Clements clarified. "So, (council) has to weigh that against the overarching community goal of providing access to one part of the community to the other."
Clements confirms that the Chicago Great Western Branch Trail project has been shelved for now.
"The city council has communicated with staff that their approach to this is to simply stop the project short," Clements told the Post. "So, the trail would end on existing city property, and wouldn't require any easements at all."
The trail is part of Rails to Trails - a federal funding program that helps cities convert old railroads into trails.
If St. Joseph built a trail on this old track, the federal government would provide about $200,000 in funds.
But with no easement acquisitions coming from the city, the proposed route is being stopped short, and therefore, the city won't be in line to receive this federal funding.
Instead, Clements says in the next 3-5 years and beyond, any major trail and expansion projects will be focused on the area of Riverside Road.
"I would forecast that for the better part of a decade, the city's eyes will have to be on the Riverside Road corridor," Clements said. "So, future city councils can consider other trails, but I think the focus is going to be on Riverside Road."
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