Great Rivers Greenway’s proposed walking/biking trail for Dee Koestering Park

Hello Fellow Kirkwodians ...

The Kirkwood Park Board and their Trail Subcommittee presently have before them a proposal from Great Rivers Greenways to build a walking/biking trail in Dee Koestering Park ... also known as the Meramec Highlands Quarry Park. The Dee Koestering Park is a 9.5 acre passive park located at the top of Marshall Road.

The City of Kirkwood’s Park System page describes the park as “a nature park with walking trails; site of the historic Meramec Highlands Quarry. Many large stones, left over from the quarrying operation that operated at the site over 100 year ago remain visible today. Acquisition was partially funded by a grant from the Land and Water Conversation Fund.” (I suspect that is “Conservation Fund” – I sent correction to City Hall.)

If you have not gone to this park, then you really need to go. But, be ready for a good strong walk. Think walking down Marshall Road on foot, meandering around for a good long while, then hoofing back up that little bugger of a hill! Now add a lovely wooded setting with some impressive boulders and rock formations, plus the remnants of an old quarry. It is just a great little passive park.

After 18 months of work on this proposal, the Park Board has had some public sessions on the proposal. I have some very deep reservations about any park going from passive to active with this kind of proposal. Simple natural settings to get away from it all are hard to find these days. What information that I could readily find on the City’s web site and Great Rivers Greenway’s web site leaves a bit to be desired. No decent view of the proposed trail in relation to the Park. No real information about what this trail is going to cost taxpayers. The Park Board and Great Rivers Greenway both exist, thanks only to our tax dollars.

So yesterday, I sent the below email to Murray Pounds - Parks & Recreation Director, Bob Sears – Park Board President and the 6 members of the City Council that have email addresses.

Hopefully all citizens can get better informed about this proposal if my three requests are fulfilled.

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Dear Members of the Kirkwood Parks Trail Committee and the Kirkwood Park Board,

I finally got a chance to look at Great Rivers Greenway’s proposed walking/biking trail for Dee Koestering Park. This trail is supposed to link the walking/biking trail that presently ends in Greentree Park at the bottom of Marshall Rd., bring it out of that valley, through the streets of Kirkwood to the Grant’s Trail trailhead on the edge of Kirkwood near Holmes Ave. and I-44.

As a citizen with a regular job trying to make it to a 4:30pm Trail Subcommittee meeting is nearly impossible. I did take the time to look at all the information I could readily find on the proposal. I first went to Great Rivers Greenway’s web site and found nothing of substance. Then, I went through everything provided on the City of Kirkwood’s web site. I reviewed the maps and schematics provided. I read the citizen comments that were collected. I familiarized myself once again with the Park Master Plan.

I found the information provided about this proposal woefully inadequate. Once I pieced together the two maps provided on the City’s web site, then fully ascertained how the proposed path actually goes through Dee Koestering Park, I was shocked by this proposal. Neither overlay map when pieced together provides a complete and clear picture of all the boundaries of Dee Koestering Park and its various neighbors in relationship to the trail that is being proposed. This failure to present a full view clearly distorts the impact of this proposal on the Park. I would love to see a private developer (much maligned by some in our community) try to slide a proposal that is as poorly put together as this one is before our City Council for review. Given the vast and overwhelming landscape issues in this proposal, it would likely not see the light of day in its presented form before that body. Which makes me wonder why the Kirkwood Parks Trail Committee and the Kirkwood Park Board failed to demand a proper representation of the proposal from Great Rivers Greenway, a public developer, before it was presented to citizens?

In addition, there is no cost estimate coming from Great Rivers Greenway for the Dee Koestering Park portion of the proposed trail. How can Kirkwood citizens fully grasp what is being proposed to be done to Dee Koestering Park without knowing how their own tax dollars are going to be spent by Great Rivers Greenway?

At this time I request three issues get clarified in this proposal before the next subcommittee or regular Park Board meeting. I believe this will aid the citizens of Kirkwood to have a fair, accurate and balanced look at this proposal.

First, post a map or series of maps that allow folks to clearly and completely see all the boundaries of Dee Koestering Park in relation to the proposed path, the property lines of the parks’ various neighbors, clearly delineating what is public property, private property, right of ways for railroads or governmental bodies. The two maps provided are completely inadequate to show even the simple boundaries of Dee Koestering Park. I believe providing a map that shows all lanes of Big Bend Rd as a Northern boundary and all lanes of I-270 as a Western boundary would go far in providing an adequate perspective.

Second, request Great Rivers Greenway provide a cost estimate (a range) for the Dee Koestering Park portion of the proposal based on the construction work they have paid for or received bids for on similar type of steep grade trails.

Third, request Great Rivers Greenway provide examples – pictures, schematics, distances etc. – of bike paths that have dealt with similar steep grades they or other similar organizations have been able to bring to completion and are in use. Plus, the projected costs and actual total costs of those completed projects.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Have a great day!

Joe Toenjes

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