The Missouri Pacific Recreational Trail (or Mo-Pac Trail) is a paved multi-use pathway built on the former Missouri Pacific Railway corridor in Iola. The trail connects with the Prairie Spirit Trail and runs east to Colborn Park (just past Cottonwood Street), providing access to the nearby Middle School and High School, as well as connecting to the downtown square via the Washington Street sharrows. For three blocks, the trail runs adjacent to Small Creek, which is lined with WPA-era hand-laid stone.
The trail is paved with concrete, and is 10 feet in width for the majority of its length, with a three-block section at a 5-foot width alongside on-street sharrows for bicycle traffic.
The trail was funded through a federal Transportation Enhancements grant, administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation, along with local matching funds.
The Mo-Pac Trail is part of a legacy railroad line originally built by the Missouri Pacific Railway Company in the 1880s, The line, which extends both east and west of Iola, roughly paralleling US-54 highway, was abandoned in the 1970s, and was, tragically, not railbanked.
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