Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy will be celebrating the past year’s progress on the trails under its cooperation at the group’s annual meeting in Overbrook Saturday. Overbrook is on the Landon Nature Trail, one of the trails under the group’s cooperation.
KRTC members and other trails enthusiasts are invited to attend the meeting, with registration starting at 11 a.m. and lunch for $10 at noon, Nov. 20, 2021, in the community room at the Overbrook Library. Reservations requested for the meal.
Jeff Carroll, owner of Ottawa Bike and Trail, will be the keynote speaker. After learning about the progress the conservancy has made in the past year, members will elect directors to its board.
Nominees for the conservancy’s board include Scott Allen, Council Grove, Scott Averill, Overbrook, Clark Coan, Lawrence, Owen Harbison, Ottawa, Brian Patton, Ottawa, John Payne, Berryton, Linda Schneidewind, Lyndon, and Cheryl Thomas, Lyndon. Other candidates can be nominated at the meeting.
After the meeting, attendees are invited to enjoy the autumn day by walking, riding or biking on the Landon Trail.
For more information about the meeting, or to RSVP for the meal, email info@kanzatrails.org.
In its fall 2021 newsletter, the conservancy reported a new three-mile of the Flint Hills Trail was reopened east of Osage City this summer after improvements. Much of the trail in that area consisted of loose ballast from the railroad bed, and has since been covered with gravel. The Flint Hills Trail has been under development by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks since a few years ago. KRTC reports the trail is mostly completed for about 94 miles, from Osawatomie to Council Grove, except for a two-mile section west of the U.S. Highway 75 bridge and a 2.3 mile section west of Ottawa. Kansas Department of Transportation has awarded KDWP $5.6 million in federal funds to build a bridge over the BNSF railroad west of Ottawa, and also complete the 2.3 mile stretch of trail there. The bridge project is expected to take three years.
The organization also reported new sections of the Landon Trail were to open this year. One stretch is 1.5 miles from 197th Street to Stubbs Road near Michigan Valley. This will make a nearly seven-mile stretch of open trail from Overbrook to Michigan Valley, bringing the trail to only two miles from Pomona Lake. Another section expected to be open by spring is a two-mile section in the Clinton Wildlife Area. The group’s members continue to work on the Landon Trail near Overbrook, and volunteers are welcomed. To volunteer in the Overbrook area, contact Scott Averill at 785-224-3453 or sgaveril@hotmail.com.
For more information about KRTC, email info@kanzatrails.org.
