New Trails System Could Link Wentzville, Lake Saint Louis and O'Fallon

Wentzville residents might soon be able to commute from their home on the west end of town to various retail stores along Wentzville Parkway and then on to visit friends in Lake Saint Louis and O'Fallon—all by walking—if park officials get their way.

Mary Jo Dessieux, director of the Wentzville Parks and Recreation Department, outlined an ambitious trails plan at the city's park board meeting this week that would add dozens of new miles in walking ways throughout Wentzville.

Dessieux said the goal is to enhance transportation and fitness infrastructure in , O'Fallon and Lake Saint Louis. 

"We want to put in trails that will not only link neighborhoods, but link parks and the retail area," she said. "So someday, we want for everybody to be able to get around the city on a sidewalk or on a trail, whether that's to a commercial area, park or neighborhood."

The plan would cost the city an estimated $20 million, Dessieux said. The parks department has for years set aside to begin a trails network, but in touch economic times, that money has been put back in the parks' capital fund. 

In 2013, Dessieux said parks officials have identified $500,000 that could go toward the project. The city would also seek various grants to help fund the project. 

"It is going to take some time," Dessieux said. "In the future, we will take it one section at a time—one piece of the pie—and put it together and continuously move around the city."

The trails would go as far north as Dietrich Road and Route 61; as far east as St. Paul and Dardenne Prairie; as far south as Duello Road and Highway N; and as far west as Forestell.

Many of the proposed trails would have planned greenways for walkers or bicyclists to stop and rest at.

A timeline on the project was not given and the park board is expected to take up the matter at a future meeting.

Now, Wentzville has little resembling actual walking trails. A few roads are equipped with 10-foot-wide walking and biking lanes. Some of the trails sytem would would resemble something similar. 

The master plan was developed in 2008 by Trailnet, a company that helps municipalities design streets, sidewalks and trails where people can walk and bike safely to local destinations within and throughout their community, as part of a bikeable and walkable community plan put together for Wentzville, Lake Saint Louis and O'Fallon.

The plan was established to improve the system of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in the three city's.