Washington County Conservation Board receives $120,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation December 6. Photo by Sam McIntosh.

The Washington County Conservation Board is a step closer to making their Kewash Nature Trail spur a reality.

WCCB received a $120,000 grant for their Kewash Trail Kirkwood Connection Project from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation at their December 6 ceremony. Conservation Director Steve Anderson describes the project, “The Washington County Conservation Board has teamed up with the City of Washington and we are looking to pave a piece of the Kewash Nature Trail as it heads on west out of Washington. And also to create a trail spur that will connect to the Kirkwood Community College up there. So it’s an exciting project and it’s actually involving federal money, state money, and then this grant just seals the deal so it’s all coming together very nicely.”

WCCB previously received a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant of $342,537 for this project, which will be focused on the spur and paving the trail up to the Crooked Creek bridge, which Anderson says gets a lot of foot traffic. The paved trail will be ADA-compliant, and bid letting is expected for the end of March with construction occurring in 2018.