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Rock Island Rail Corridor Authority
Rock Island Rail Corridor Authority
(RIRCA) Background Information
The Rock Island Rail Corridor Authority (RIRCA) was established to manage and maintain the Rock Island Corridor, which Jackson County acquired in the spring of 2016.The RIRCA works on a variety of topics related to the Rock Island Corridor, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Corridor engineering and design
- Legal and regulatory issues related to corridor real estate and property development
- Corridor maintenance
- Corridor safety
- Communications
- Branding regarding the corridor
- Procuring federal funding
- Administrative support
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Rock Island Rail Corridor Authority
Physical Address
415 E. 12th Street
Floor 4M
Kansas City, MO 64106
Phone: 816-503-4847
Quick Links
- December 8, 2017: Construction Contract Awarded
- May 2, 2016: Jackson County Acquires Rock Island Corridor
- April 4, 2016: County Legislature Approves Bonds To Purchase Rock Island Corridor
- September 30, 2015: Jackson County, KCATA Agree To Funding Deal To Purchase Rock Island Corridor
Rock Island Trail
Phase One:
Construction on Phase One of the Rock Island Trail is complete. The trail is 6.5 miles long, beginning at Brickyard Road in Kansas City and ending at Jefferson Street in Lee’s Summit. There are two official trailheads: 98th street Trailhead (12600 E 98th Street KCMO 64138) and Hartman Park (700 SW Pryor Rd, Lee's Summit, MO 64081). The trail is now open to the public.
Phase Two:
Construction on Phase Two is expected to begin in the summer of 2019 and should take approximately a year and a half. We expect construction will be complete in late 2020 or early 2021. Phase two will take the Rock Island Trail all the way to the Truman Sports Complex. This phase will have three trailheads: Truman Sports Complex, Downtown Raytown and Woodson Road in Raytown. Phase Two is 7.1 miles long and when done, will create a 13.5 mile trail on the Rock Island Corridor.
Connecting to the Katy:
Soon, we hope to connect the Rock Island Trail to the Katy Trail. There is currently an eight mile gap between the southern end of the Rock Island and the MOPAC which connects to the Katy Trail at Pleasant Hill. We have called this project the Greenwood Connector as the trail connector would run right through Greenwood, MO. During 2017 and 2018 Jackson County convened a group of stakeholders to determine the best route through this challenging 8 mile gap. This work produced a conceptual plan that we have started to pursue. Since that time, Jackson County was granted some new federal funding that will allow us to build an additional 1.5 miles of trail past our current southern terminus. This project is expected to begin in 2020. We will continue to pursue new federal and other funding opportunities that could pay for this project, however this is likely to occur as a succession of small projects over a number of years.
- What was purchased from Union Pacific?
- Who will manage the property?
- How will the purchase be paid for?
- What are the next steps along the corridor?
- When will a path be started / completed?
- How much will construction cost?
- Will the shared use path connect to the Katy Trail?
- What type of mass transit will follow?
- When will mass transit be completed?
Shared Use Path Public Meeting Materials
- Project Overview Handout
- Meeting #1 Information Boards
- Meeting #2 Information Boards
- Corridor Flyover Video (external YouTube link) @(Model.BulletStyle == CivicPlus.Entities.Modules.Layout.Enums.BulletStyle.Decimal ? "ol" : "ul")>
Rock Island Corridor Cultural Resources Review
- Initial Rock Island Section 106 Report
- Phase 1 History and Architecture Report
- Inventory of Bridges, Culverts, and the Vale Tunnel @(Model.BulletStyle == CivicPlus.Entities.Modules.Layout.Enums.BulletStyle.Decimal ? "ol" : "ul")>