Public Meetings and Community Assessment Meetings

On Dec. 14, 2021, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources accepted ownership of the Rock Island Corridor. The department plans to develop the 144 miles of the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad corridor, which stretches from Windsor to Beaufort, Missouri, into a public recreational trail. Missouri Central Railroad Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameren Missouri, donated the property at no cost to the state.

The department entered into an Interim Trail Use Agreement with Missouri Central Railroad Company in 2019 to railbank this section of the Rock Island Corridor. Railbanking, established in 1983 as an amendment to Section 8(d) of the National Trails System Act, is a voluntary agreement between a railroad company and a trail agency to use an out-of-service rail corridor as a trail until a railroad might need the corridor again for rail service. This interim trail use of railbanked corridors has preserved thousands of miles of rail corridors that would otherwise have been abandoned. Development of the trail will occur in sections over several years, as each section of the corridor has different features and challenges.

In January 2022, Missouri State Parks held Rock Island Corridor public meetings in Versailles, Owensville and Freeburg. The open house-style meetings gathered public input, and gathered the needs and goals of each community and the landowners along the corridor. The meetings included information about trail development and operations, public safety, landowner and real estate topics, grant opportunities, and future partnership opportunities. To view the information provided at the public meetings, click here.

Missouri State Parks also held a series of community assessment meetings with elected officials, local business owners and community members to discuss potential grant and partnership opportunities along the undeveloped section of Rock Island Trail State Park. The details of scheduled meetings can be found below.