For more than 15 years there has been a proposal to build a trail connecting the Keystone Trail at Karen Park east to a connection with the Field Club Trail near 34th & Vinton Streets in the Summit neighborhood. The Keystone-East  Trail, as it is now called, is well on the way to becoming a reality!

For more than 20 years the Nebraska Chapter and Missouri Valley Group - Sierra Club have supported trail development as a means of promoting low-impact modes of transportation, recreation and physical fitness. Example

On August 27th, 1992, I led a Sierra Club outing from Ak-Sar-Ben following the abandoned Chicago & North Western Railroad track to C Street and Dahlman Ave. checking the feasibility of the route for a new trail. Although the Field Club Trail, Omaha's first rail-trail, was under construction south from Leavenworth Street, we had hopes to use the old C&NW roadbed for a trail to eventually connect the Keystone and Field Club trails with a connection near the Summit Neighborhood.

Map 1 (right), taken from the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District's Metro Area Trails Map - Paths of Discovery, shows the proposed route for the Keystone East Trail. I changed the dashed white line to solid red to make it stand out. There was a controversy about the proposed route through the Karen Park neighborhood west of 60th Street, but that appears to be resolved by routing the trail on the south edge of the Union Pacific right-of-way near the toe of the railroad fill and north of the Peter- Kiewit storage yard. The trail would use the old Chicago & North Western Railroad roadbed from 60th Street east to 42nd Street including the old railroad bridge over 60th St. The City already owns this property. There would be an at-grade crossing of 50th Street, a busy arterial that would require a traffic light to protect trail users.

Map 1 - Proposed general route of the Keystone East Trail

The trail would pass under F Street near 45th and follow the old rail route under the 42nd Street Bridge. Although there is an active Union Pacific Railroad track, called the Wimmer Wye, also utilizing this opening under 42nd Street, trail designers believe there is room for the trail next to the south bridge abutment.

A recent controversy arose with the routing of the trail between 42nd Street and 36th Street. See Map 2 (right). Note that current plans route the trail across the 36th Street bridge instead of under it. (See Map 1). I attended a public meeting on July 29th in South Omaha at the Kroc Center. The meeting was well attended. In addition to many residents of the affected area, there were six Papio-Missouri River NRD Board members and Councilman Garry Gernandt present. Melinda Pearson, Director - Omaha Parks & Recreation Department, presided over the meeting.  John Royster, Landscape Architect with Big Muddy Workshop, is consultant on the Keystone East Trail project, and started off the meeting with a history of the trail and the routing options presently being studied. Between D Street and the Wimmer Wye track (yellow line in Map 2) there are several industrial properties including a large warehouse complex owned by Hahn - HFH LLC. The area South of D Street is residential which is part of the Burlington Road Neighborhood Association. Although D Street has heavy truck traffic, there are no sidewalks east of 39th Avenue.

Map 2 - Keystone East Trail Route Proposals Between 42nd Street and 36th Street The yellow line is Union Pacific's Wimmer Wye track The red line is the proposed trail route utilizing an abandoined C&NW track bed. The green line is an alternate route along D Street as a wide sidewalk and several street crossings.

The original plan to follow the old C&NW roadbed between 42nd Street and 36th Street (red line in Map 2) was opposed by Hahn - HFH LLC because the owner believed the trail would eliminate the option of ever restoring rail access to the warehouse. Although the C&NW once provided rail service to the site, service and tracks were abandoned in about 1992. Having the ability to restore rail service is important to these industrial land owners because that helps keep truck rates competitive. There was also concern that locating the trail north of the industrial complex isolated the trail from public view making it less safe.

The City and NRD favored the D Street option (green line in Map 2) because that would provide better trail access to the neighborhood and avoid the conflict with Hahn. However, many residents  on or near this route objected because the wide sidewalk would come very close to several homes, seriously infringe on several of these small residential lots, and force trail users to cross several busy streets that carry substantial truck traffic to and from the industrial area.

The meeting ended with the City and NRD understanding the serious issues brought forth by the local residents and agreeing to look again at the original route (red line) north of the industries.

While at Union Pacific I was involved in some of the early planning for the Wimmer Wye, a vital connection that allows OPPD unit coal trains to come east from North Platte and turn south to go to Nebraska City. I was on the Board of Friends of the Parks at the time, and I was aware that we wanted to route the trail immediately south of the new track.

On Thursday, August 5, I met with John Royster at the attractive Big Muddy Workshop headquarters near 42nd & J Streets. I brought along photos I had taken during the 1986-1992 period when U.P. was planning and then constructing the Wimmer Wye. We also inspected the site to verify that the route is still a viable option. Based on the information available, John and I concluded that sufficient right of way is available south of the Wimmer Wye track and north of the warehouse properties to locate the trail on the old C&NW mainline roadbed. Hopefully Union Pacific still owns this property and would be willing to sell it to the City for the trail. UP will likely require construction of a fence next to its active rail line for safety. 

Hahn would still have the option of constructing a siding to its property if needed, although the spur would cross the trail at grade. However, switch crews would flag trail traffic for the occasional moves into the warehouses. John pointed out that there is a similar trail crossing by a rail spur in the Sioux City area. The City would have to utilize a segment of the Hahn property east of the warehouse to allow the trail to loop south to gain elevation to reach the 36th Street Bridge.

I don't believe there is a serious security issue with this route. It will be visible from I-80 and an industrial access road. Concerns about trail security back in 1989 when Douglas County located the Keystone Trail behind a group of industrial properties between Blondo and Maple Streets turned out to be unfounded. In fact, many believe that the presence of the trail has improved security and reduced vandalism in the area.

Hopefully further research by Big Muddy Workshop into using the former C&NW roadbed between 42nd and 36th Streets will verify the feasibility of this route, ownership of the land can be secured, and construction can begin!

Perhaps the Burlington Road Homeowners Association can work with the City to construct a modest sidewalk along D Street to get pedestrian traffic out of this busy street and provide access to the Keystone East Trail.

The photos below provide some historic views of the area.

This photo was taken on March 14, 1992. We are looking east towards the 42nd Street overpass. A contractor is grading for Union Pacific's new Wimmer Wye track.

The abandoned C&NW track is on the right, and that's approximately where the new Keystone East Trail would be built. Although the tracks are gone, the right-of-way is still intact and owned by the City of Omaha from this point near 42nd Street west to just west of 60th Street. The Nebraska Department of Roads negotiated a deal with the City when Interstate 80 was being widened to eliminate the I-80 bridges over the old C&NW route. That's when the City decided to route the trail to Karen Park.

This is an April 1986 view looking east from 42nd Street. That's Chicago & North Western's South Omaha Yard on the left.

The track leading up the middle was C&NW's lead to the South Omaha Stockyards. This is approximately where Union Pacific built the Wimmer Wye track, and the rest of the tracks in this photo have been removed.

Note that there is a tank car spotted at one of the warehouses on the right. Apparently what's now the Hahn property still had rail service in 1986.

The track that I labeled "Locate Trail Here" is the C&NW's main line to Summit where trains accessed the Union Pacific to proceeded east to Council Bluffs. Today this old roadbed appears to be undeveloped and available as a trail route.

The above two photos were taken in March 1986 looking west from the 36th Street Bridge. On the left are those industries that front D Street. That track in the middle of the left photo is the old C&NW main line which was abandoned in 1992. This is a possible route for the Keystone East Trail shown as the red line in Map 2. 

The old roadbed from the abandoned C&NW main line is totally overgrown with trees. This is the proposed route for the trail.

Summit is about 1/2-mile east of 36th Street. (See Map 1.) It is the point where the UP and BNSF railroads cross the divide between the Missouri River and Papio Creek watersheds. The I-80/I-480 interchange was built over this busy railroad junction. Summit is Omaha's surface transportation hub.

To view the Metro Area Trails Map - Paths of Discovery