With the opening of the Perche Creek Trail, Columbia is one step closer to completing a 30-mile loop around the city.
The first segment of the trail is now open, connecting the MKT Nature and Fitness Trail to Gillespie Bridge Road, and includes a 200-foot bridge across Perche Creek. Once completed, it will ultimately serve as the loop’s western border, joining other trails along Columbia creeks.
“You can follow these creeks and be almost entirely separate from the automobile,” said Mike Snyder, the Parks Planning & Development superintendent. “It will be unlike anything any other city in the country has.”
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department held a dedication to celebrate the first phase of the project Thursday night.
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe addressed several dozen hikers and bikers at the dedication, noting the trail’s native plants and cheering its role as a pathway for recreation and commute.
“Non-motorized transportation options are a big passion of mine,” Buffaloe said. “This helps us get one step closer to achieving the goals in the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan that help us do a mode shift.”
The second half of the trail, scheduled for completion in 2027, will continue from Gillespie Bridge Road to Smith Drive. The first phase accrued costs of just over $1.4 million, up from the initial target of $1.2 million but still just below the allocated budget.
“A lot of this is our park sales tax funding,” Buffaloe said, “which our community continues to support year after year.”
Several attendees noted they rely almost entirely on non-motorized transportation and are excited to have the new path to commute safely.
A few finishing touches will be added in the near future, including the planting of more native vegetation and a 300-foot buffer along the former sewer property that part of the trail is built on.
The trail was made a primary project in the city’s 2013 Trails Plan, which included projections for the construction of several new trails to create the 30-mile loop. The project was funded by a voter-approved park sales tax and a recreation trails program grant administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
