MAKING MISSOURI A BETTER PLACE TO WALK AND RIDE A BICYCLE!

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1 MAKING MISSOURI A BETTER PLACE TO WALK AND RIDE A BICYCLE! 1709 Missouri Blvd Ste. C #200 Jefferson City, MO MoBikeFed.org EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Brent Hugh director@ mobikefed.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Michael Hennies, St Louis Jan Neitzert, Jefferson City Weslley Ridgeway, St Louis Eric Rogers, Kansas City Rachel Ruhlen, Columbia Paul Sidwell, Kansas City Joseph Torrisi, St Louis Patrick Van Der Tuin, St Louis Mac Vorce, Warsaw Paul Wojceikowski, Wildwood ADVISORY COMMISSION: Laura Vie, Columbia Bruce Adib-Yazdi, Springfield Virginia Blaine, Farmington Andrew Clements, St Joseph Chuck Daugherty, ACT Missouri Joe Ferguson, Washington, MO Caryn Giarratano, Jefferson City Coy Hart, Springfield Matt Hartman, St Louis Douglas Hermes, Liberty Mark Hines, Overland Park Jeff Huff, West Plains KartaPurkh Khalsa, Kansas City Matt Maher, Independence Steve Marquardt, Nevada Christopher McNeese, Strafford David Schieffer, Lake Quivira Kimberly Shafer, National Park Service Sean Staggs, Kansas City BJ Taylor, Raytown Alex Tetlak, Kirksville Ian Thomas, Columbia Annette Triplett, Columbia Patricia Vinyard, Belleville Michael Weiss, St Louis Pam Wennerberg, Grover Mitchell Williams, Kansas City July 21, 2014 Bob Zick c/o Washington Highway 47 Bridge Committee 405 Jefferson St. Washington, MO Re: Washington Missouri TAP Application for Trail Improvements on Highway 47 Bridge Dear Mr. Zick, The Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation fully endorses and supports the trail application of the City of Washington for the Bridge at Washington. The Federation looks forward to the potential trail improvements as an important link in connecting the City of Washington s on street bike network to the State of Missouri s Katy Trail to the north in Warren County. The improvements such as striping, approach improvements to the bridge from both the north and south sides and lighting of the multi-use trail on the west side of the bridge will be a welcome improvement to multi-modes of transportation using the new bridge. Because the current bridge is in a key position to serve a large number of statewide and national bicycle and pedestrian routes and trails, because the current bridge is so difficult and dangerous for bicycling and walking, and because the new bridge will include a separated, safe path for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the Missouri River, this is an extremely important project for members and supporters of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. The trail s between the City of Washington s on street bike network all the way to the Katy Trail, a key cross-state and national bicycle route, are a very, very important part of this project. The bridge is important to Missouri s bicycle and pedestrian transportation system for these reasons: Because of the bridge s location along or on several statewide and nationwide bicycle and pedestrian routes and trails, it will create a key bicycle/pedestrian of local, regional, statewide, and nationwide importance.

2 MAKING MISSOURI A BETTER PLACE TO WALK AND RIDE A BICYCLE! PAGE 2 The current bridge is the only possible crossing for bicyclists and pedestrians between Hermann and St. Charles, a distance of 61 miles, and is currently often used by bicyclists, even though it is extremely dangerous. It creates an important intermodal between the Katy Trail on the north side of the river and the Amtrak Station to the south. Creating a bicycle/pedestrian crossing on the Highway 47 Bridge was rated as one of the highest priorities in our recent Missouri High Priority Bicycle/Pedestrian/ADA Projects Lists, which involved input from dozens of agencies and organizations across Missouri. With the current development of the Rock Island Trail as a cross-state trail connecting Kansas City with Windsor, Versailles, Eldon, Owensville, and projected to end just about 6 miles south of Washington near the intersection of Hwy 47 and the Rock Island Railroad line, ensuring that this bridge is fully operational for cyclists, walkers, and hikers becomes even more vital. The bridge will provide a vital link across the Missouri River that will connect Missouri s two major cross-state trails, the Katy Trail and the new Rock Island Trail State Park, to create a seamless interconnected trail loop system, approximately 500 miles, with the new bridge at Washington as a nexus of this entire trail system. Regional, Statewide, and Nationwide Importance The Highway 47 Bridge is especially important for those of our members who walk and bicycle locally. But the project is also of very high importance for regional, statewide, and even national bicycle, walking, and trail s. Missouri is a national hub of trails and bicycle routes and the Highway 47 Bridge plays a key role in that system. Currently, because the bridge is so narrow and includes no facilities for bicycling or walking not even a shoulder the bridge is an impediment to safe bicycle and pedestrian travel and a problem spot in the local, statewide, and national bicycle, pedestrian, and trail routes that it serves. This bridge serves as a key for the following designated statewide and national bicycle, pedestrian, and/or trail routes: Katy Trail (statewide, 238 miles east/west St Charles to Clinton; connects the Katy Trail to the City of Washington on the other side of the river) Rock Island Trail State Park (projected/planned, statewide, 130 miles Kansas City to east of Owensville; the bridge connects the Rock Island Trail to the Katy Trail) Quad States Trail (multi-state, east/west Illinois to Nebraska; connects the Trail to the City of Washington on the other side of the river Adventure Cycling Association's Great Rivers Bicycle Route (national, north/south Muscatine, IA, to Baton Rouge, LA; the bridge forms a portion of this route and is currently one of the most difficult/dangerous bridge crossings on this multi-state trail)

3 MAKING MISSOURI A BETTER PLACE TO WALK AND RIDE A BICYCLE! PAGE 3 Adventure Cycling Association's Lewis & Clark Bicycle Route (national, east/west Hartford, IL, to Seaside, OR; connects the Route across the to the city of Washington) American Discovery Trail (national, east/west Lewes, DE, to San Francisco, CA; connects the Trail across the to the City of Washington) Fixing a difficult and dangerous but much-needed river crossing the only crossing in 61 miles for pedestrians and bicyclists For the east/west routes and trails through this area, the Highway 47 bridge project will create the only safe, accessible bicycle and pedestrian crossing of the between Hermann (27 miles to the west) and St Charles (34 miles to the east). Because there are very few towns of any size or services lodging, restaurants, shopping, medical care on the north side of the river, the bridge is quite literally a lifeline between these trails and routes and the city of Washington, which has all of these services. That means that the bridge creates the only link to much-needed services for a stretch of approximately 61 miles. For the north/south routes, the route through Washington provides the most attractive bicycle route through the entire eastern half of Missouri but the Highway 47 Bridge, with its length, grade, narrow lanes, and lack of shoulders, is by far the most difficult and dangerous spot for bicyclists on this entire route. The difficulty and danger of this bridge for those of us who bicycle and walk cannot be overstated. The bridge is very long, about 2000 feet from approach to approach, and has a steep grade, very narrow lanes, high traffic speeds, a fairly high amount of traffic, and no shoulder. The current railings are completely insufficient for the safety of people who walk and bicycle and do not meet current design safety standards for pedestrians or bicyclists. The only place for a bicyclist to ride on this bridge is smack in the middle of the travel lane and there is no room for emergency maneuvering or to allow anyone to pass. Despite these tremendous difficulties and dangers, the bridge is very commonly used by bicyclists! The bridge is the only crossing between the Katy Trail, which has over 500,000 annual users, and the City of Washington, the only city of any size for many miles. So despite the difficulties and dangers of crossing the bridge, it is in fact used by bicyclists on a daily basis throughout the Katy Trail riding season. The bridge in its current condition is very narrow and intimidating for pedestrians and so, as far as we know, it is rarely or never used by pedestrians. The new bridge, with its safe and protected bicycle/pedestrian path, will create excellent pedestrian access in a place where none currently exists. Intermodal Katy Trail to Amtrak Because Washington has an Amtrak station, the bridge is especially important in making the multimodal between Amtrak and all of the above national bicycle routes. Many Katy Trail users created a multi-modal trip by taking the trail in one direction and Amtrak in the other. Currently, there are excellent Amtrak-Katy Trail s at Hermann, Jefferson City,

4 MAKING MISSOURI A BETTER PLACE TO WALK AND RIDE A BICYCLE! PAGE 4 and Sedalia. The creation of another safe, convenient Amtrak-Katy Trail link at Washington will strengthen this multi-modal immensely. An identified statewide priority by bicycle and pedestrian groups Creating good, safe bicycle and pedestrian s between the Katy Trail and nearby communities was identified as one of the top priorities in the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation s 2007 Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. In addition, creating safe bicycle and pedestrian access across major barriers like the was identified as a top priority. At that time, only two safe, accessible crossings for bicyclists and pedestrians existed in Missouri, at Hwy 5 at Boonville and the Page Avenue Extension at St. Charles. Since that time, the following safe and accessible crossings have been created for bicyclists and pedestrians: Bridge City River Trail Notes Heart of America Bridge Kansas City, Missouri Chouteau Bridge Kansas City, Missouri and bike lanes Hwy 13 Bridge Lexington Accommodation Hwy 54 Bridge Jefferson City Katy Trail Hwy 19 Bridge Hermann Katy Trail U.S. 59/Amelia Atchison, KS Earhardt Bridge Lewis & Clark State Park, MO I-64/Boone Bridge Chesterfield - Weldon Springs Katy Trail I-70/St Charles St. Charles Katy Trail/ Riverwoods Trail on shoulders Cantilevered separated Accommodation on wide shoulder (in construction) (in study/scoping) This leaves the Highway 47 Bridge as the only remaining Katy Trail- bridge that does not safely accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians and in fact, one of the few remaining bridges over the in the state of Missouri that does not accommodate bicycle and walking traffic in some fashion. In 2010, the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation worked with dozens of organizations, groups, and agencies across the state to identify the very highest priority bicycle, pedestrian, and ADA projects in the state. In that statewide High Priority Bike/Ped/ADA Projects last year, creating bicycle/pedestrian access on the Hwy 47 bridge scored among the highest of over 250

5 MAKING MISSOURI A BETTER PLACE TO WALK AND RIDE A BICYCLE! PAGE 5 projects submitted in the categories of Need and Significance. In 2013, MoDOT is asking for citizen input for top-priority projects from across the state as part of its Missouri On the Move long-range planning effort. As part of this effort, the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation is collecting high-priority statewide bicycle and pedestrian projects and the Hwy 47 bike/ped has been nominated. This is currently an ongoing project and the final prioritization has not been completed, but the Hwy 47/ Bridge project is certain to rank among the highest statewide bike/ped priorities again this year. Again the Federation fully endorses these proposed improvements to the bridge as well as the north and south approaches. Sincerely yours, Brent Hugh Executive Director