Beast On The Bridge

Recently I rode the Beast on part of an abandoned railroad in the big city. This is the same rail-bed that the existing Prairie Sunset rail-to-trail is on West of the big city.

A neat feature on this segment is this bridge. The bridge spans the “Big Ditch” which carries overflow from the Arkansas River around the big city. I”ve seen mention of future plans to put a path along the dike of the Big Ditch. This would expand my off-street riding options greatly as this floodway passes right by our town and would give us a connection to the big city and it”s paths.

The old railroad passes under a highway and it”s on and off ramps.

This segment of the old railroad runs right by the airport.

Crossing the bridge.

The sidewalk (I don”t know what the proper term is) on the bridge is covered in asphalt and disguises the condition of the boards underneath. Here it was obvious there was a problem.

Hopefully someday and within my lifetime, this portion will get completed. It”s actually ride-able now if on the right bike. It would just be nice to be given the city”s blessing to do so. From what I”ve observed, the biggest obstacles to connecting Wichita to the existing Prairie Sunset trail near Goddard is a missing bridge over the Cowskin creek and a portion of the trail that an aircraft company has fenced in and claimed as their own.