Katy Trail: Gaps in east end cycling connections to St. Louis and Illinois

Today, though the MKT is gone, the Wabash trackage remains an active mainline for the BNSF railroad. For the trail to continue east from this point, it would need to either be built on the active BNSF railroad right-of-way adjacent to the tracks, or it would need to occupy a strip of land on the north side of the private farm properties next to the railroad.

Major railroads rarely allow this type of "rail-with-trail" configuration along an active mainline, it is unlikely one would be permitted here. The only other option is via purchase of, or a right-of-way easement through, the north edge of the the private property south of the tracks.

The result of these factors is that the actual eastern terminus of the Katy Trail is landlocked. It has no direct connection for riders who wish to continue eastward into Illinois or southward into St. Louis. The end of the trail is surrounded by private farmland on three sides. The public Machens Road comes to within a couple hundred feet of the trail's eastern terminus, but riders would need to traverse a short path on private land to reach the road. The landowners closed this to the public after experiencing problems with local troublemakers vandalizing and littering the property.

Private property blocks access to the eastern terminus of the Katy Trail from Machens Road.

Eastbound riders who want to reach the end of the trail and "ring the bell" must afterward backtrack west to either Ell Road or the Black Walnut trailhead to leave the trail. Cross-country riders wanting to continue east must leave the trail at Ell Road to transition to the adjacent road network.

The access issue at Machens is rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. If the landowner were to allow public access to the east end of the trail from Machens Road, it would not solve the primary problem of cyclists still needing to risk the very dangerous ride on Missouri Route 94 and US 67 to reach Alton. I'll cover that in the next section.

Katy Trail access on Ell Road west of Machens.

Route 94 is a narrow, shoulder-less, high-speed (55mph speed limit) two-lane road running west out of West Alton. Actual vehicle speeds on this road average at least 65mph, and traffic levels are heavy (particularly during the morning/evening rush hours). It is not safe for cyclists.

Route 94 in West Alton.

Dwiggins and Saale Roads offer a safer bypass to avoid most of Route 94 between Ell Road and West Alton. While these roads are in the same configuration as Route 94 (narrow, no shoulders, high vehicle speeds), traffic is sparse on them.

Saale Road west of West Alton.

Even when using Saale and Dwiggins Roads, two miles of riding on Route 94 are still necessary (between Ell Road and Dwiggins Road and again between Saale Road and West Alton). I don't believe the Route 94 dangers are worth the risk for cyclists to attempt. I personally will not ride this segment.

Unfortunately though, there is not yet a through route for cyclists using this trail corridor. The West Alton Trail terminates approximately 1/2 mile from the Recreation Area, with no connection westward. Some maps show a trail exists past that point, but it is impassable due to overgrowth and is blocked by thick vegetation and a gravel berm at St. Charles Street.

Cyclists must ride along the shoulders of US Route 67 on the segment between West Alton and the Clark Bridge. Unprotected bike lanes are in place on both sides of the Clark Bridge itself.

Bike lane on US 67 on the Clark Bridge in Alton.

Off of the Clark Bridge, shoulders of the four-lane US 67 are in very poor condition for cycling. They have long sections covered with loose gravel, are narrow in spots and are not kept clean. The speed limit on this stretch of road is 55mph, but traffic is almost always very heavy and moving at 65mph or higher. Traffic conditions are essentially the same as a four-lane interstate highway.

The US 67 segment of a through route from the Katy Trail is very dangerous for cyclists to attempt, possibly more so than the Route 94 segments. I personally will not ride this segment and do not recommend that cyclists attempt it.

Madison Avenue is a narrow two-lane road with little or no bikeable shoulders. It borders industrial facilities for much of its length, where any shoulders are uneven with loose gravel. Speed limits range from 45mph to 55mph, and actual traffic speeds are frequently faster.

Madison Avenue between Roxana and Hartford.

The main mitigating factors are that it is arrow-straight and has lower traffic numbers outside of rush hour times. While not as dangerous as Gaps 1 and 2, I don't believe this segment is worth the risk for most riders.

New Poag is a 55mph two-lane road with high traffic levels. While it has wider shoulders that give room for a cyclist to not have to "take the lane", riders will still be in unprotected close proximity to heavy traffic traveling at speeds averaging over 60mph.

My personal risk tolerance would dissuade me from using this road as a regular cycling route. However, it is likely on par with the vast majority of roads that cross-country cyclists are used to.

Highway 50 is a two-lane road with zero shoulders (the pavement ends with a drop-off into grass at the outside edge of the white painted line). Cyclists must ride in the traffic lane ("take the lane") on this segment. While speed limits on Highway 50 in this area are between 35mph and 45mph, traffic is very heavy at most times of day, with long lines of cars nearly continuous in both directions. Vehicles will be unable to pass cyclists at most times of the day thanks to continuous opposing traffic, which will lead to disruptive traffic backups and aggressive/unsafe passing attempts.

While there are a few side streets that riders can use to bypass short segments of Highway 50, most of it has no bypass options and riding on it is unavoidable. I will not attempt to ride on this segment of Highway 50 and I would not recommend that cyclists attempt it.

The good news is that a parallel multi-use path along this segment has been funded that, when constructed, will completely eliminate this gap. Groundbreaking is expected soon, with a planned completion sometime in 2027.

The route from the Katy Trail to the Grafton Ferry is safer than riding on any length of Route 94. However, this far more circuitous path requires cyclists to ride on the Great River Road (Illinois Route 100) from Grafton to Alton.

The Great River Road's shoulders are of barely-adequate width, and are marked as unprotected bike lanes from Grafton to Piasa Creek (roughly two-thirds of the way to Alton). Traffic is lighter than US 67, but excessively-speeding drivers are common despite the 55mph limit. There is not much appreciable separation for riders between this high speed traffic and the guardrail along the riverbank. While this might be nothing out of the ordinary for seasoned cross-country riders, many who are accustomed to trails do not feel safe on this part of the road, and I tend to agree.

A dedicated multi-use path, the Sam Vadalabene Trail, runs from Piasa Creek to the western outskirts of Alton. Unfortunately, many report that this trail is poorly maintained. Riders face an elevated-risk transit on the remainder of Route 100 into Alton.

Given the rather high risks of the Route 94 and US 67 segments, the Route 100 transit is safer, though not as much safer as I'd think would be worth all of the extra mileage.

1. St. Charles County, Missouri parcel map
2. Trailnet: St. Louis Area Trail Development
3. OneSTL Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning
4. St. Clair County Transit District: MetroBikeLink Trail System
5. Madison County Transit Trails
6. Katy Trail
7. Interactive map of all completed, in-progress and future trails and bike routes in the St. Louis Metro-East
8. O'Fallon press release for Highway 50 shared use path
9. Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure plans - Metro-East Parks and Recreation District
10. FRA: Rails-with-Trails Best Practices