Overland Park and the Kansas Department of Transportation plan to work together to fill a missing link on a major biking and hiking trail near U.S. Highway 69.
Last week, the Overland Park City Council Community Development Committee voted 6-0 to recommend accepting $1 million in federal funds from KDOT for the CityPlace trail connection project on the Indian Creek Bike/Hike Trail.
“It is a beautiful piece of property,” Parks and Recreation Project Manager Mike Burton said, noting the topography, water features and wildlife.
Block, the Kansas City real estate firm behind the CityPlace development, owns the land in question, but since it sits in the floodplain, Burton said it is otherwise “unusable” for new physical construction.
Trail connection will span nearly one mile
- The project will fill in a roughly one-mile gap on the Indian Creek Bike/Hike Trail, looping around the mixed-use CityPlace development off of 119th Street.
- The trail addition will stretch from Corporate Woods under 69 Highway to connect to Valleybrooke Park near Quivira Road and Interstate 435.
- Parks and Recreation Project Manager Mike Burton also said last week that the trail connection will contribute to the regional “greenway linkage” system, helping to link other parks, greenspaces and trails to each other in the Quivira area.
- The Indian Creek Bike/Hike Trail is more than 15 miles long, with 10 miles passing through Overland Park.
CityPlace trail connect has been in the works for years
- Burton told the committee last Wednesday that planning for the CityPlace leg of the trail started in 2018.
- However, when the pandemic started in 2020 the project was put on the backburner, and ultimately the city tabled the project.
- Then, in 2022, Overland Park applied for Transportation Alternative funds through the federal Surface Transportation Block Grant program, which is where the money from KDOT is coming from.
Next steps:
- The agreement between the city and KDOT to accept the funds will next go to the Overland Park City Council, likely by the end of the month or in early July.
- The money from KDOT is expected to cover about 80% of the total project costs, with the city on the hook to kick in no more than $500,000 itself.
- Construction on the trail connection is expected to start in late 2026.
Keep reading: OP moving ahead with plan to make College-Metcalf area safer for bikes, pedestrians
