This snowy pathway, running north of Miller Road on the old railroad right of way, will be a developed portion of the Prairie Spirit Trail by later this year.

 

Rail trail extension under way

By BOB JOHNSON
Register City Editor

Construction started in late November on the final phase of the Prairie Spirit Trail, which later this year will give walkers, joggers and bikers access from Iola to Ottawa.
Recent work on the 17-mile project — the trail has been open from Welda to Ottawa for several years — has centered in the Welda area and has involved removal of vegetation and leveling of ballast of the old rail bed. The surface of the final phase will have 4 inches of compacted limestone screenings.
Wooden railings also have been constructed above two culverts under the right of way between Welda and Colony.
At completion the trail will extend to Cofachique Park in Iola, west across North State Street from the National Guard Armory. Original plans called for the trail to end at Oregon Road, but Iola was successful in attracting a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation, totaling $100,000 with an 80-20 split favorable to the city, to bring the trail into town and make local access more convenient.
Altogether, final phase construction will cost about $1.1 million.
An aside that may occur — a KDOT decision is pending — is removal of the U.S. 169 viaduct at the south edge of Welda. If that project occurs, the trail likely will go under the highway through a tunnel, much as it does a few miles north of Iola where U.S. 169 crosses the old Santa Fe Railroad right of way.
Trent McCown, rail manager for the Department of Wildlife and Parks, said a separate project was construction of a building south of the depot in Garnett, where equipment would be stored and maintained. Equipment has been kept at several locations. Having a central shop will ease equipment maintenance and speed work on the trail, he said.
An opening date for the final phase of the trail has not been set. The construction contract is for 180 days, which would have it expire in late May. However, the recent spate of winter weather has slowed work and may push completion to early summer.

THE TRAIL, similar to others throughout the nation that follow old railroad rights of way, was conceived about 15 years ago and got official emphasis in May 1992 when the 50-mile stretch of railroad right of way from Iola to Ottawa was transferred to KDWP, after its abandonment by Santa Fe.
That occurred through national rail banking, made possible by federal law to keep rights of way in place in the event the nation’s railroad industry might be revitalized.
A three-phase plan for development of the trail occurred after title of the right of way was transferred to KDWP.
The first phase, the middle section from Welda to Richmond and running through Garnett, opened to public use March 30, 1996. The second phase, from Richmond to Ottawa, opened Sept. 1, 1998. The final phase, now under construction, was delayed when economic downturns in the late 1990s continuing into the new century cut into funding for such things.
Meanwhile, Iola seized the thought several years ago of having the southern trailhead more a part of the city, rather than being built at the north city limit where the trail intersected Oregon Road.
While immediate plans are for a trailhead at Cofachique Park, Iola has designs to someday extend the trail to Riverside Park. That will depend on acquisition of right of way to that point, where parking, restrooms and other facilities are available. While most of the final phase of the trail will be crushed limestone, which quickly hardens to near concrete hardness when calcium chloride is mixed in before compaction, the portion in Iola will be asphalt.
The trail throughout is designed for non-motorized traffic, except for powered wheelchairs. Barriers at road intersections ensure integrity, though they may be unlocked and lowered so law enforcement, medical emergency and maintenance vehicles may be driven on the trail.
The trail is patrolled regularly by KDWP agents.
The Prairie Spirit Trail follows railroad right of way that has been in place since the 1860s.
One of the first north-south railroads constructed in Kansas was the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston line, laid during Civil War years. In the late 1890s the LL&G was purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The ATSF sought and was granted permission to abandon the line in the 1980s. KCT Railroad Corporation purchased salvage rights in the 1990s.
A portion of the railroad, operated by a short line company, remains open from the north edge of Humboldt and south. That gives access to Monarch Cement Company, which ships cement in bulk by rail.

THE PRAIRIE spirit trail has faced its share of controversy from day one, but opposition has faded over the years as vandalism and intrusion that adjacent landowners feared have not occurred.
People who use the trail mean to do it for exercise and recreation and for most of its course the trail gives opportunity to soak in what nature has to offer. Manmade features are restricted to towns along the way.
Some landowners claimed revisionary property rights to the property, but that was trumped by the federal railbanking act. In some places rail bed was owned by the railroads, which precluded right of way issues.