Connecting Greater Kansas City to Missouri’s Katy Trail State Park and to the Kansas rail-trail network is part of BikeWalkKC's long-term vision for the KC region and a key part of our advocacy since our founding in 2010. In the years since we’ve successfully fought for significant progress on the KC to Katy connection, and we are making steady progress on finishing it.
2026 updates
2026 has seen great progress on the KC to Katy connection! Three big projects are underway in 2026:
1. Jackson County Rock Island Trail extension - 1.5 miles of new is under construction in Lee’s Summit from SW Jefferson Road to SE Hamblen Road, passing under MO 291 Hwy. This section should be completed and open by Spring 2027.
2. A second further extension south along Hamblen Road to Greenwood is being designed in 2026. This additional mile of trail could open by 2028 if construction funding is secured. Update October 20, 2026: Due to cost increases Jackson County Parks has decided use the federal grant for this project is not sufficient to build the planned segment of trail. The project has changed to build a new trailhead for the new Hamblen Road extension currently under construction.
3. The Ted and Pat Jones Bridge opened in September at the western end of the Rock Island Trail State Park in Pleasant Hill, providing a new railroad crossing for the trail and eliminating the on-street detour that was in place for 10 years. Ted and Pat Jones gave the lift charitable gift to start the Katy Trail State Park in the 1990s, and this bridge is the final gift from the late couple’s estate.
Your charitable donation supports BikeWalkKC's work to advocate for completing the KC to Katy Trail connection. Any amount helps!
The three pieces of the Katy to KC corridor as of 2026:
The entire Rock Island corridor is really multiple projects divided between various railroads, counties, cities, and Missouri State Parks.
1 The existing Jackson County Rock Island Trail is 13.5 miles from the Truman Sports Complex through Raytown to southern Lee’s Summit, which was completed in 2021. This section is part of the Jackson County Parks trail system.
2. The Rock Island Trail State Park’s Phase 1 opened in 2016 with 47.5 miles from Pleasant Hill east to Windsor, where it connects to the Katy Trail State Park. Future phases of the state park will create a second cross-state rail through the Lake Area and into eastern Missouri. This section is part of the Missouri State Parks system.
3. The “Greenwood Gap” sits between the two sections. It is an 8 mile missing piece that is now the focus of community advocacy and regional planning. 2.5 miles of new trail on the northwest end of the gap are scheduled to open by 2028. The final 5.5 miles of the gap could be the most challenging of the entire corridor.
Closing the Greenwood Gap
Why is there a gap?
When Jackson County and KC Area Transportation Authority purchased their section of unused rail corridor from Union Pacific, the railroad was unwilling to sell the entire corridor to Pleasant Hill. Much of this gap is still an active rail line. Trail development through this section requires new right-of-way and routing away from the rail corridor. This makes closing the gap expensive and time-consuming.
Progress in 2026
Jackson County and Lee’s Summit are building 2.5 miles of new trail south to the Lee’s Summit/Greenwood border by 2028. The small city of Greenwood has a plan for 2.7 miles within its borders, but still needs funding for construction.
The final 2.5 miles between Greenwood and Pleasant Hill runs through the unincorporated Cass County community of Avon. Despite being a fast-growing county of more than 100,000 people in KC’s southern suburbs, Cass does not have a county parks department to take the lead. And Missouri State Parks does not receive any state funding for trail construction. There is a lot of planning and advocacy underway to finish these 2.5 miles, but it will be hard, long-term work. There is currently no timeline for when the final gap could be closed.
There are some alternative routes along mostly rural roads who are comfortable biking in that setting, but not a direct, family-friendly trail route.
History of the Corridor
The corridor follows the old Rock Island rail line, much of which had been sitting unused for decades.
The first 47.5 miles of the Rock Island Trail State Park east of Pleasant Hill opened in 2016. The railroad (Missouri Central Railroad) that owned the land is part of Ameren, the St. Louis utility company. A dam failure at an Ameren reservoir in Mid-Missouri led to a legal settlement between the utility and the State of Missouri. That settlement included Missouri Central donating the land under the rail corridor to Missouri State Parks and Ameren paying for the construction of the new trail at no cost to Missouri taxpayers.
The section of the Rock Island rail line in Jackson County was owned by Union Pacific Railroad. Jackson County and the KC Area Transportation Authority partnered to purchase the corridor from the railroad for $52 million in 2016. The long-term vision is to create a multimodal rail-with-trail corridor that could see the future addition of a passenger rail line alongside the trail.
Timeline of the Corridor
2015
Missouri State Parks receives transfer of the corridor between Pleasant Hill and Windsor from Ameren and Missouri Central Railroad
2016
Rock Island Trail State Park opens between Pleasant Hill and Windsor, connecting to Katy Trail at Windsor
Jackson County and KCATA purchase the Union Pacific section of the corridor within the county for $52 million
2019
Phase 1 of Jackson County Rock Island Trail opens, from MO 350 Hwy to MO 291 Hwy in southern Lee’s Summit.
2021
Phase 2 of the Jackson County Rock Island Trail opens through Raytown to the Truman Sports Complex.
Missouri State Parks accepts transfer of the rest of the Rock Island corridor (east of Windsor) from Ameren and Missouri Central Railroad - to extend Rock Island State Park into a second cross-state rail trail
2024
City of Greenwood completes the Greenwood Connected Plan for their section of the gap.
2026
The Ted and Pat Jones Bridge opens on the Rock Island Trail State Park at Pleasant Hill.
2027
Jackson County Rock Island Trail extension to SE Hamblen Road is scheduled to open in Spring 2027
2028
Jackson County Rock Island could be further extended to the Lee’s Summit/Greenwood border, if construction funding is secured.
Future progress, depending on construction funding
- Trail segment through Greenwood to the Cass County Line
- KC to Katy connection completed with final trail segment through northern Cass County to Pleasant Hill
- Cross-state Rock Island State Park completed to Union, MO southwest of St. Louis (Keep track of funding and construction updates on local trail sections here)
This page last updated October 2026.
How you can help make this all happen
Become a member of BikeWalkKC to help us work towards this awesome goal. Your membership supports our work with local cities and counties to bring the Katy to KC and build out the MetroGreen network so the whole region can access the Katy. Join today, or if you are already a member, make a donation.