In my quest for a route to bike from the Northern Tier of the American Discovery Trail in Southwestern Iowa to the Southern Tier in Western Missouri, I contacted Caryn Giarratano (the bike/ped coordinator for the state of Missouri) for suggestions.

Today, I received some helpful info from Caryn on this subject. Since others may be interested in doing something similar, here's what she suggested.

"Thanks for keeping me informed. In order to plan a route to connect to the
Katy Trail, I would recommend that you use the Missouri Bike Maps based on
traffic count at this location ...
http://www.modot.mo.gov/othertransportation/bike_ped/Bike-PedProgram--RoadandRouteInfo.htm.

My contacts for bike route info in the KC area are Aaron Bartlett and Brent
Hugh. Aaron is the bike/ped coordinator for MARC and Brent is the Director
of the Missouri Bicycle Federation. Be very patient if you ask for their
help. They are extremely busy!

Go to the MBF website for great bike/ped info, especially here ...
http://mobikefed.org/momaps.php.

Pedaling happily, Caryn"

Thanks Caryn. I'll let y'all know what Aaron or Brent have to say.

Larry