Clayton Road Trail Groundbreaking Sept. 15

The City of Town and Country will host a groundbreaking celebration for the Clayton Road Trail on September 15 at . The groundbreaking will start at 4:30 p.m. at the corner of Clayton and South Mason Roads. Refreshments will be served afterward until 6:30 p.m. at the Longview Farm House.

The parks department requests that attendees send an RSVP to nixona@town-and-country.org if they wish to attend the groundbreaking event, which is free.

This ceremony will mark the beginning of Phase 1 construction on the trail, which will run from Longview Park to just pass Topping Road, west of Hwy 270. The eight foot wide trail will parallel Clayton Road on its north side.

“We have some, but not much, sidewalk on Clayton Road,” said Alderwoman Lynn Wright, a member of the Clayton Road Trail commission. “We have sidewalk going from Longview west, but not from the park going east.”

Wright said Phase 1 construction should start soon after the official groundbreaking, and Phase 2 is planned to start in the late spring or early summer of 2012. Phase 2 will take the trail further east, crossing under Hwy 270 to Bopp Road.

“The third phase will cross over Highway 141 and connect to Town and Country Crossing,” she said. “You’ll be able to go some distance. It’s pretty amazing.” Wright said the city is working with the to add a safe pedestrian lane on Clayton Road’s overpass where it crosses Hwy 141.

When completed, the trail will run the length of the city, from Town and Country Crossing in the west to the city’s eastern edge at Bopp Road.

“The main thing is we’re working with each resident, because the grant is covering new landscaping,” Wright tells Town and Country - Manchester Patch. She explained that the trail commission is working with each resident effected by the trail, and asking what kind of planting they’d like to see where their property meets the trail.

“The residents have been unbelievable. people are very excited with what we’re doing. We’re in their yards, so we want everyone to be as happy as they can be,” Wright said.

Read More on Clayton Road Trail in This Previous Story:

On the Horizon:

• Manchester has selected Roy’s Auto Repair to be its Homecoming Business of the Year for 2011.
• Asian Career Networking: Focus on the Future, hosted by the St. Louis chapter of the OCA at the Sheraton Grand Ballroom in Clayton, on Sept. 15 from 6-8 p.m. Free event with a cash bar, light snacks and complimentary onsite parking.
• Plan Early, a seminar for business planning hosted by the National Association of Women Business Owners. The seminar is led by business coach, Charlotte Nenninger. Westborough Country Club, September 21, from 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.