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Bike path opens over Missouri River at I-64

Missouri Department of Transportation

A bicycle and pedestrian trail crossing the Missouri River on the I-64 Daniel Boone Bridge opened Thursday. The path connects the Monarch Levee Trail in St. Louis County to the Katy Trail in St. Charles County.

Executive Director of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation Brent Hugh says the path will bring more trail users into riverside communities.

“As you’re biking or walking up and down the trail, you need a place to stay, you need groceries, you just want to visit the local attractions and it’s not all that easy to hail a cab,”  Hugh said.

The river crossing will bridge that gap, while also extending the 226-mile Katy trail closer to St. Louis County.

Hugh says more than 500,000 people use the Katy trail annually and that number is growing thanks to the Missouri Department of Transportation’s trail developments. This marks the seventh bicycle and pedestrian path to cross the Missouri River. 

Susan Trautman is the executive director of Great Rivers Greenway, which manages regional parks and trails. She says cyclists will be well protected while peddling alongside the interstate. High dividers separate the path from traffic on the interstate.

The path also offers riders and walkers a new perspective on the river as they travel along the eastbound span of the recently re-constructed Daniel Boone Missouri River Bridge.

“It has a beautiful wrought iron fence that allows great views of the river and of Busch wildlife and the Chesterfield valley. You’re going have a beautiful experience, but it’s a very safe experience crossing the bridge," Trautman said.