Cape to begin design work on $1.6 million Riverwalk Trail extension

Cape Girardeau's Riverwalk Trail on Saturday was awash with friends sipping coffee, determined joggers and others simply idling along the water's edge.

In the near future, if all goes according to plan, those who enjoy the riverside trail will have more room to roam.

A resolution before the Cape Girardeau City Council tonight would authorize the design of a $1.6 million project to lengthen the trail at both ends by a total of about 2,100 feet.

While the project is still more than a year from a construction start, a council approval would be the first step to extend the trail along the Mississippi River to the north to the Red Star Access Boat Ramp and southward to the River Campus, said city engineer Casey Brunke.

To the north, that would basically only require a 12-foot-wide pedestrian bridge over Sloan Creek to extend the existing trail about 250 feet to the boat dock, Brunke said. To the south, she said, 850 new feet of trail would be constructed so the trail could follow the river to Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

"We've got quite a few trail projects coming up or going on," Brunke said. "We hope, when we're done, to incorporate all of our trails together. We want a network of trails to make it easier for folks who enjoy the trails to have access to them."

The trail extension would mirror the existing trail -- a 12-foot-wide recreational concrete trail intended for use by pedestrian traffic and bicyclists.

Late last year, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded the city funds for the extension of the Riverwalk Trail, technically phase four of the overall project, according to a council agenda report. The city solicited requests for qualifications for various future projects and the design consulting firm of BFA Inc. of Washington, Mo., was selected.

The cost of designing the trail extension would not exceed $91,071, the report said. The contract calls for preliminary design of the trail extension to be completed in six months. City staff would review those plans and the firm would have another six months to prepare final design plans, Brunke said.

Barring any unforeseen problems, construction could begin within a few months of design completion.

But Brunke said there is some uncertainty about plans for extending the trail to the south. Any design would have to take into account a potentially problematic earthen levee as well as some railroad tracks that are in the path of the extension.

"We're not exactly sure what's going to happen on the south end yet," Brunke said. "That's what we're asking the design firm to do -- come up with some ideas about how to get over the railroad and the levee."

If that doesn't happen, she said, the pedestrian bridge to the north could still be built and a subsequent project could possibly handle the southern extension once a solution is found.

Those who were milling around the Riverwalk Trail on Saturday said they hope the trail happens.

"I would be 100 percent for it," said H.W. Meyr, a Cape Girardeau accountant who jogs on the trail at least once a week. "That would be beautiful. I could run a whole circle around Cape."

Troy Vaughn, a member of the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, just happened to be explaining the project to some friends Saturday. He said the trail extension would be a real boost to the downtown.

"It will enhance what is already a nice place for the community to come to," Vaughn said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO