A 47.5-mile section of the former Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad that ran from St. Louis to Kansas City opened in December 2016 as the Rock Island Trail.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources first named it Rock Island Trail State Park before almost immediately renaming it the Rock Island Spur of KATY Trail State Park.
The spur trail ran from Pleasant Hill to Windsor, Missouri, where it ended at KATY Trail State Park. An additional 144 miles of corridor was still undeveloped and closed to the public.
The old railroad was acquired by the Ameren Electric utility company after the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad went bankrupt in the 1980s.
