HIKING-BIKING TRAIL HEADS FOR OSAGE CENTRE

Construction of what could be the most scenic section of the Cape LaCroix Hiking-Biking Trail is under way. When completed it will extend the trail north from Arena Park through the forest of Cape Woods Conservation Area to the Osage Community Centre.

Depending on weather, the section could be in use as early as this winter or as late as next summer, said Dan Muser, director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Cape Girardeau. Rain would slow construction greatly because much of the route becomes too muddy to work very easily, said Jim Burton, a heavy equipment operator who was operating a bulldozer at the site Monday afternoon.

Plans call for the eight-foot-wide asphalt trail to follow Cape LaCroix Creek to Hopper Road, then continue north parallel to Mount Auburn Road while the creek circles to the east. The trail then heads east across Cape LaCroix Creek just south of the Kage Road intersection with Mount Auburn and to the Osage Centre, Muser said.

Bikers and hikers will have to cross Hopper Road until the city completes a planned replacement bridge over the creek.

Plans are to build a parking lot with an entrance off Mount Auburn and restrooms there, Muser said.

Burton has already bulldozed the section in Cape Woods connecting the two creeks. Unlike the already completed sections of the trail that run next to a storm sewer and Kingshighway, this section runs through forest thick enough that the asphalt will be the only visible sign of civilization.

The contract for the construction calls for the city to pay Nip Kelley Construction $245,264.95, Muser said.

City plans call for the trail to connect the Osage Centre to Shawnee Park eventually. It currently ends just south of Brink Street along the Cape LaCroix Creek.