The proposed trail system connects all the areas of the East Bottoms to the greater Kansas City area and creates a public right of way where there currently is not one.

The overall plan and concept of the project is to create a trail using the public right of way to better connect the east bottoms to the west bottoms and the rest of kansas city

The trail creates better connection to these significant places while also plugging in the green infrastructure system

Using existing rails and turning them into trails creates a unique experience along the trail. We also utilized ‘complete streets’ which allows for the co-existence of vehicle traffic and cyclists/pedestrians— this is important for the design of the circulation of the trail. In designing the streets, we moved the pedestrian trail towards the outside while keeping busy vehicular and industrial traffic on the inside of the trail.

Example of rails transformed to trails

Road Typology and separation of pedestrian, cyclists, and vehicular traffic on trail.

The system is broken into 3 scales: the East Bottoms scale creates better circulation on the site, the next scale connects the East Bottoms to the West Bottoms, and the last scale connects the East Bottoms to the rest of Kansas City

The East Bottoms loop system exposes the unique character of the site. The experience of each loop is different. We are creating organization in the site by using one unifying color in each section to keep users oriented while they are on the trail.

We also created a folly system (using towers and trailside rest areas) that provides non-existent services for trail users and the community in the East Bottoms.

Intersection typology in the trail system

The trail was formed by analyzing the significant elements and the important green space on the site.

The trail consists of nodes and corridors which create experiential pathways and destinations that pull you through the site.

Example of the boardwalk typology in the trail system

Bridge typology in the trail system