THE GREENING OF ST. LOUIS The Confluence Greenway is adding 200 square miles of park space in the heart of the metro area. By William Poe As Laura Cohen gazes beyond the Mississippi River just north of downtown St. Louis, she sees hundreds of acres of woods and fields precisely where most people think they don’t exist. “It’s a wilderness,” says Cohen. “And it’s in the middle of our metropolitan area. It’s right here, not a four-hour drive away, yet most people don’t know we have it.” She’s trying to change that. As project manager of Confluence Greenway, Cohen is coordinating the activities of dozens of organizations and governmental agencies to create a 200-square-mile system of parks, recreation areas, trails and heritage sites along 40 miles on both banks of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. These ribbons of green space stretch from downtown St. Louis/East St. Louis, past Alton to the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and across to St. Charles. Laura Cohen, project manager of Confluence Greenway, speaks at the Chouteau Island Community Cleanup Event held in March 2002. And much of the space is already pretty green. Even today, a hiker or bicyclist can jump on a paved trail near the Gateway Arch and, with only a handful of breaks, complete a journey to Pere Marquette State Park, where the Illinois River empties into the Mississippi. “There is almost a continuous trail from the Arch to Pere Marquette,” says Cohen. “And when the city of St. Louis completes a short section (joining the north Riverfront Trail to the old Chain of Rocks Bridge), you can go from the Arch to the Chain of Rocks, across that bridge to Chouteau Island, across Chouteau Island and the canal bridge, to connect with the Confluence Bikeway and continue on to Alton and beyond.” And, though the trail may be just a narrow sliver of asphalt, it brings the explorer into contact with plenty of parks and green space along the route. The trail begins at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (itself a large park) and brings into play as it winds northward the North Riverfront Park, the 4,300-acre Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, the proposed Big Muddy Fish & Wildlife Refuge and Confluence State Park, and Chouteau Island. In all, more than 10,000 acres of public green space await the visitor in and around the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri, according to Cohen. “We are making a significant contribution to the open space in the region,” says Cohen. “And it is emerging in a very short period of time. Even five years ago, you could hardly access the confluence area.” The Confluence Greenway concept had its genesis in planning initiated by the St. Louis 2004 organization and gained steam in November, 2000 when voters in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County passed a 1/10 of one-cent sales tax to form the Metropolitan Park and Recreation District (MPRD). The MPRD, later changing its name to the Great Rivers Greenway, began collaborating with the Metro East Park District in Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois to implement the $141 million, ten-year Confluence master plan. Progress has been significant. Just last year, a number of green spaces and related attractions were opened to the public. They include: The Confluence Bikeway from Granite City to Alton, where the path connects with the existing Vadalabene Trail and the Great River Road and continues on to Pere Marquette State Park. The Portage Des Sioux Nature Area, a 40-acre nature area. The Metro-East Levee Trail, a 7.6 mile trail linking historic sites in Cahokia. The National Great Rivers Museum at Mel Price Lock & Dam. Columbia Bottom Conservation Area with a viewing platform overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The Lewis & Clark State Historic Site in Hartford. Eads Bridge as a pedestrian/bikeway. The Lewis & Clark Boat House & Nature Center in St. Charles. This year, projects that should be completed include the short paved artery connecting the Riverfront Trail with the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, the opening of the Hartford Bikeway linking the Confluence Bikeway with the city of Hartford, opening of the 1,100-acre Jones-Confluence Point State Park on land between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, extension of the Katy Trail from St. Charles to Machens, and opening of the Canal Trail on 5,500-acre Chouteau Island. Making it all happen has required a real display of bi-state governmental cooperation. “It’s remarkable how much coordination of cooperation there has been among governmental agencies,” says Cohen. “In fact, we’ve really seen new relationships develop. The staff of the Missouri and Illinois departments of natural resources, for instance, hardly knew each other before. Now, they are actively working together for the benefit of the bi-state area.” Confluence Greenway is, itself, a master of collaboration. Largely comprised of five organizations—Trailnet, Greenway Network, Grace Hill Settlement House, Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation and Development, and the Trust for Public Land, Confluence Greenway relies upon the help of a myriad of local governments, plus the states of Missouri and Illinois, not to mention the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service. Organizational cooperation is as important as Confluence Greenway plans are aggressive. Plans call for, among other things, the development of water taxis that would ply the rivers, extending the Riverfront Trail into Columbia Bottom, stretching the Katy Trail to Confluence Point, a link to Horseshoe Lake and Cahokia Mounds, and a corridor to the proposed Chouteau Lake District in downtown St. Louis and on to Forest Park. As Cohen reflects on our great rivers, she sees the Confluence Greenway as a nationally significant park and trail system that puts bi-state residents back in touch with their river heritage. “We are really helping to reconnect people to the rivers,” she says. William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis advertising and marketing communications firm.

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