Great Rivers Greenway leading year-long planning process to develop coordinated Greenway Plan for next phase of greenway development in St. Charles County

Great Rivers Greenway, St. Charles County and the municipalities within St. Charles County are working together to develop a coordinated greenway plan for the county. This project is part of Great Rivers Greenway overall efforts to connect St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County with a network of greenways where people can walk, run and ride a bike. With partners, 125 miles of greenways have been established thus far. This project will guide the next phase of the public agency’s sales tax investment in St. Charles County greenways.

The planning process will consider existing and planned trail projects as well as the feedback of people who live, work, learn or play in St. Charles County. When complete, the St. Charles County Greenway Plan will include an updated greenway map with prioritized projects and partnership models for building greenways in the future.

The year-long planning process will be divided into five phases; data collection, analysis, concepts, refinement and final recommendations. Phase one—data collection—will begin in August 2019. Community members will be asked to rank the kinds of greenway experiences they would like to have and identify the natural (e.g. rivers, parks) and constructed places (e.g community centers, libraries, schools) in St. Charles County where they would like to go on a greenway.

This feedback will be gathered at public spaces, community and special events, food truck festivals, organization meetings and neighborhood events in St. Charles County such as the Race for the Rivers Aug. 24; Monarch Madness Festival Sept. 14; MO Cowbell Health & Fitness ExMO Oct.4-5; and the Jack-O-Glow walk on the Centennial Greenway Oct. 18. Look for the Great Rivers Greenway tent or table to learn more and take the survey. People can also weigh in via an online survey and map at www.GreenwayPlan.org.

“We know this is important to people in St. Charles County and we want to think comprehensively about the connections across the county,” says Susan Trautman, Great Rivers Greenway Chief Executive Officer. “Whether we’re building new greenways, identifying places to upgrade existing trails or understanding how municipalities and other stakeholders can contribute to bringing the vision to life, coordinated planning helps tie it all together.”

Project partners will also be gathering feedback from leaders in the areas of health, transportation, nature, and economy to better understand their desires, concerns and capacities for greenway building and maintenance.

“We want to make sure we bring everyone to the table—residents, community leaders, business owners, public agencies, municipalities and other stakeholders—to develop a strategic plan for connecting St. Charles County with greenways,” says Ryan Graham, St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Director. “By working together, we can leverage existing and planned trail projects across St. Charles County to connect people to the places where they want to go. The more people who participate in this process, the better the final plan will be.”