City to look at hike-and-bike path

Through last year, Pittsburg city staff attempted to close on the last rights-of-way and easements for the hike-and-bike trail near Meadowlark Elementary School.
The closing never happened, and Todd Kennemer, Pittsburg assistant director of public works, said the city gave up on the project, for which it had already received grant money.
“We just could not get the extra easements or rights-of-way,” Kennemer said. “Because the grant money was time sensitive, we needed to find something else.”
It didn’t take the city long to find another project.
Watco came forward with vacant railroad right-of-way and asked about making a hike-and-bike trail from 12th and Broadway to First and Georgia. The sell, Kennemer said, was an easy one.
“Of course, we were looking,” Kennemer said. “Watco is very civic minded, and they wanted to give something to the city and make it nice.”
It will feature a 10-foot wide walking trail and signs warning traffic about the designation. Students from Pittsburg Community Middle School and all three St. Mary’s-Colgan schools currently use the walkway, which is now a narrow foot path topped with gravel.
“It’s always nice to have a plan B,” Kennemer said. “With this one, it’s one that kids are using already.”
The city’s master plan shows a future Pittsburg ripe with inter-connected hike-and-bike trails, helping both for those without cars, and with the fitness aspect. Kennemer said the Watco trail would contain signs that let pedestrians know just  how far they had walked.
The railway will be “banked” meaning that Watco would still have access to the rail if it was needed for any reason in the future.
“It’s kind of like the interstate,” Kennemer said. “That’s actually a military system, so in times of war, the military would get it back to use to get around. But as of right now, everybody can use it.”
Kennemer said the project, which will be fully funded by grants, would likely start in late summer. Ten thousand dollars for the project will come from the Sunflower Foundation, and the matching money, another $10,000, will be supplied by the Pritchett Trust.
“Grant money is such a positive thing, and it was great to find a way that we didn’t have to turn away free money,” Pittsburg Mayor Pam Henderson said. “It’s a positive from so many aspects. I think, with the signage, it’s going to be safer, and it’s definitely a benefit from a fitness aspect.
“When you have gas prices at what they are, it helps to have some other avenues,” Henderson said. “It will be a nice path, and we’ll continue to work on trails at Meadowlark and elsewhere.”

Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134