Our September 18th meeting had Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau director Christina Phelps speak about her work on the Kansas River Development Committee.
The committee was launched to recommend ways to spur recreational use of the Kansas River and develop tourism and economic growth along the river. The committee’s work will build on the July 2012 designation of the Kansas River as a National Water Trail by U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Now that the trail has federal designation it opens the doors to potenial federal funding to improve the trail and the areas near it. Whether it be bank improvements in cities, better signage along the river so people can more clearly find and know how far upcoming ramps are. There has even been discussions of possible white water rafting features for local kayak enthusiasts and for fire and safety rescue training use.
There are currently 19 river ramps located in 15 communities along the river, and another ramp was recently completed at Belvue. The committee is also working with to add at least two more ramps between Belvue and Topeka.
Phelps said Lawrence is particularly placed well along this route as our two ramps are close to the city center while a lot of the other ramps are far away from transportation through private land.
For more information about the river trail, contact the Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau for copies of the new map about the trail or check out the Friends of the Kaw website.
