Rail trail plan presented to Sikeston City Council

SIKESTON, Mo. — Consultants presented their vision for taking the former Union Pacific Railroad corridor in Sikeston into a trail designed to draw visitors into the community and get residents outside and active.

Stephen Ibendahl of the I5Group, which specializes in urban and community planning and landscape architecture, and R. Patrick Worzer of Gateway Design Studio, specialized in planning, landscape architecture and design, detailed their master plan for the project at Monday’s city council meeting.

In introducing the consultants, city manager Jon Douglass said their work already has helped the city receive a grant that will pay for 75 percent of the first phase of the project, with the city funding 25 percent.

Worzer said the master plan looks at constraints faced in taking people along the trail such as crossing intersections and drainage ditches to stormwater runoff issues. It also makes recommendations about landscaping and signage.

He said one of the pluses is the corridor will run straight through town, passing parks, residential areas and businesses. The Sikeston Depot Museum will serve as the centerpiece of the trail.

Ibendahl said the plan sought ways to connect the community and provide access to the trail from a variety of points.

“A trail can be an economic driver for a community,” Ibendahl said, adding people want to live near such trails and use them to commute to work and school.

For phase one, Worzer said the trail will begin west of the depot and go to Main Street. It will be setback from Malone Avenue following existing rail bed.

The master plan calls for additional green space, a playground, informational kiosk and seating areas around the Depot Museum, as well as seating and landscaping between Scott Street and Prairie Avenue.

In front of the depot, the trail will be concrete. From Kingshighway to Main Street, the trail will be asphalt, planners indicated.

For the second phase, Worzer said the city has several options in how far to extend the trail and its type. He said the trail east from Main Street could follow the existing rail bed or it could use sidewalks for pedestrians and a designated lane for cyclists.

Also, as part of the second phase, the trail would go west to Westgate Street, connecting to West End Park. This would require some signal intersections, landscaping and a pedestrian crossing at the railroad at Selma Street.

The third phase from Ingram to Veterans Park is short, but Worzer called it a critical part of the corridor. He said when constructing this part of the trail, the city then could look at options on stormwater retention.

The fourth phase would stretch to the city limits on the east and on the west from the Westend Park to Route BB, Worzer suggested.

“Our hope is you take this document and use it in an effective way to help promote Sikeston,” he said. “It can be an economic driver for the city, as it brings people into the city and for the citizens to use.”

In response to a question from Michael Harris, the planners said most of the trail will be asphalt. Some parts will be made with crushed rock, which Worzer said settles and becomes an almost solid surface.

The trail would be 10 feet wide to accommodate walkers and cyclists, he said.

In a related matter, the city council approved a bill authorizing the mayor to sign a contract with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission providing for the funding and construction of the trail’s first phase. A federal grant through the Missouri Department of Transportation will pay for up to 75 percent of the cost of the trail, not to exceed $283,561.

Pertinent address:

116 W. Malone Ave., Sikeston, Mo.