Today was one of those days where just a simple thing like getting a project out to bid completely makes putting up with all the government stupidity and frustration worth it. I've blogged in the past about getting something to implementation in government can be pointless but it's all forgotten when work is ready to start.
There is very little common sense in government workings nowadays. Don't get me wrong there are well-intentioned folks who enjoy getting things done and being helpful but they also don't want to waver too far outside "the process" and get reprimanded or yelled at by the process trolls. There are also folks who create all sorts of red tape for the sole purpose of guaranteeing a job rather than creating value or production. What's fun to watch is how the process trolls react to the handful of us that can porcupine process back at them and work around all the inanity and do what needs to be done and avoid what is a complete waste of your money (see my Line Creek Trail thank you post before you condemn).
Anyways, after some last minute changes that I shall not mention because I've already got gnashing of teeth from the previous prose, the next phase of the Route 152 Trail is out to bid which will build a trail along the north side of Route 152 from I-29 west over to Amity.
The project has two separate federal grants (thanks process trolls, SERENITY NOW) so Segment 3 of the Trail starts on the west side of Amity and connects over to the short little existing trail near the apartments on the northwest corner of the 152/Congress interchange. The new trail is illustrated by the white lines for the pavement edge and the light blue lines are metal/plastic pipes and the magenta line is a box culverts.
Near Amity, the trail is going to be built a little bit up the hill from the westbound Amity off ramp. The centerline was field staked a while back so you might see where it will go but to give you an idea, this picture is looking west (towards Kansas) about halfway up the ramp.
This picture is roughly from the same point looking east towards Zona Rosa™.
Why is the trail here up the hill? Well it would be nice to have a flat section of the trail versus going up and over that monstrous hill.
Even though this trail will be along the highway, thanks to donations from Hawthorn Bank™ who donated the easements after a short phone call (so patronize them please because they are one of the top two banks I've dealt with regarding trails, Valley View™ being the other) and also a donation by Hunt Midwest the trail will meander away from the highway right of way into this small valley. In the picture, I am looking east towards Zona and standing right north of where the exit ramp starts.
I had to finagle the design in this area because there is some rock which makes installing the concrete box culvert a little tricky but I also wanted to save the monstrous, white sycamore tree which has been there for a while and is really awesome up close and under its canopy.
Segment 4 of the trail goes from Congress over to Old Tiffany Springs Road near the eyesore high rise hotel and is shown in the general alignment of the blue line below.
Remember above when I told you how Hawthorn Bank was awesome to work with on Segment 3? Well here I will spill the beans that Key Bank™ was difficult to work with and thanks to them, there will be a gap in the trail along Congress where folks will have to use the sidewalk or bike lanes because Key's got their own process trolls.
What's even better about it? Key Bank™ goes to all sorts of effort to promote themselves as an environmentally sustainable bank on their website. Too bad their environmentally sustainable efforts include not giving a rat's behind about building a trail that will allow people to get to work, school, shopping, etc using a bike or by foot. I guess "going green" for them means going green for the green.
When the trail finally opens and something doesn't look right, you can thank Key Bank™ for being a complete excrement sandwich of a corporation (no wonder why people like old Bernie hate the banks). I can add them to my list of companies like Curry Investment Company that have held up progress on building community amenities.
Once this phase of the 152 Trail is done, there will be a monstrous gap to get over I-29.
Bike riders on Old Tiffany Springs Rd bridge over I-29. Like the margin for error with the low railing? pic.twitter.com/7kG5TrRI73
— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) September 11, 2017
However, hopefully construction of a new bridge will start soon so we can safely get across as shown below.
I had hoped this would be wrapping up about now so my oldest could bike to Park Hill and K2 could bike to Congress so I wouldn't have to chauffeur and deal with the hassle of I-29 interchange traffic signals but K1's going to be old enough to drive by the time it opens.
When the bridge gets done, we'll have a connection from Amity all the way over to US 169 and Costco™ and roughly 45-60k folks who will be within a mile of a trail system to get around for work or pleasure. Something like that would be pretty attractive to an international company looking for a new corporate headquarters wouldn't it???
If I were you, I would also let the folks at MoDOT know how much you appreciate all of these connected trails. A lot of them wouldn't be possible without their cooperation and permission to use their right of way. You can let them know here or via Twitter.
Comments