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TOPEKA: House Bill 2434 designating the trail as the “Prairie Spirit Rail Trail State Park” was signed into law on Friday, May 28th at 9:30 a.m. in the governor’s office. Those in attendance are pictured above, include: Back row L-R: Dick Koerth, Assistant Secretary for Administration (KDWP), Chris Tymeson, KDWP Chief Attorney, Trent McCown, Park Manager, Delton Hodgson, member-Friends of the Prairie Spirit Trail, Alan Hynek, Fort Riley Conservation Branch, Judy Brigham, Iola City Administrator, Representative Bill Feuerborn, Senator Carolyn McGinn, Representative Melanie Meier, Mike Hayden, KDWP Secretary; front row L-R: Representative Sydney Carlin, Janice Hodgson, President-Friends of the Prairie Spirit Trail and former Garnett mayor, Governor Mark Parkinson, and Linda Reed, Mayor of Ottawa. The trail is operated by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Park. This new designation will see the trail’s inclusion on state maps, signage, etc. WELDA BYPASS CONSTRUCTION CREATES TRAIL DETOUR WELDA: Work is currently underway on a bridge replacement project south of Welda in Anderson County on Highway 169, just north of 900 Road. The Kansas Department of Transportation is removing a highway bridge, which travels over the trail, and completing other associated road construction as they work to lessen the highway curve at this location. The work will cause a small section of the trail to be closed for at least one year. Two alternate routes will be available to go around the construction. Both will be on county roads. The recommended trail route will be marked and it is approximately 4 miles on county roads. This adds about 3 miles to the distance between Welda and Colony, but these are seldom-used roads with minimal traffic. A second route, which is available but not recommended due to high traffic, will follow the local traffic/highway detour route around the bridgework. This route adds less than 1 mile of travel, but it will be on a road with high traffic use and not signed for bike or pedestrian travel. KDOT will be routing truck traffic onto Highway 59 through Moran to avoid frequent truck traffic on this section of Highway 169, but a significant amount of traffic will still use the highway detour. KDWP has provided us with this DETOUR MAP
Please watch this website or The Prairie Spirit Express newsletter for project updates.
Just email, call or write to request information and it will be sent to you at no charge right away! Be sure to watch this website or your membership issue of The Prairie Spirit Express for up-to-date information on the development of Phase III on the Prairie Spirit Trail. Phase III (Welda to Iola) is currently under construction. Upon completion, the current 33-mile trail will span more than 50-miles, from Ottawa to Iola, Kansas.
Remember Anytime you visit a restaurant, store or attraction along the trail, be sure to tell them you’re visiting because of the Prairie Spirit Trail. If you have questions or comments before or after your visit please do not hesitate to e-mail us at info@prairiespirittrail.org. Friends
of the Prairie Spirit Trail P.O. Box 71 For information on Lodging, Restaurants, and Places of Interest, contact: “America’s
Hometown” – Garnett Garnett
Area Chamber of Commerce “ The
Town To Come Home To” - Iola "Victorian
Ottawa" If you have any positive trail news please e-mail it to: info@prairiespirittrail.org and we will do our best to include it in future issues of The Prairie Spirit Express. • Home • Location • Maps, Fees & Rules • Attractions • Friends • Collectibles • Upcoming •RR History • Email & Links |
