ST. LOUIS COUNTY — New segments of a 17-mile trail planned from Forest Park to St. Charles County are moving closer to completion in two neighboring mid-county cities.

The new paths, in Creve Coeur and Olivette, are the latest extensions of the Centennial Greenway, a pedestrian, bicycle and wheelchair path planned from Forest Park to Creve Coeur Lake Park and the Katy Trail in St. Charles County.

The Centennial is part of the region’s trail network under construction by the Great Rivers Greenway, which develops and operates the region’s trail infrastructure. The agency works with local, state and federal agencies to build segments of the system one at a time.

It can take years, but the latest progress in Olivette and Creve Coeur are major steps for the Centennial, a spokeswoman said.

“There’s a lot of action happening and a lot of momentum,” said Ann Milford, a spokeswoman with Great Rivers. “And it would not be possible without the communities working together to plan regionally and bring these projects to life.”

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The latest progress includes two segments in Olivette and two segments in Creve Coeur. Once completed, the Greenway will connect Shaw Park in Clayton and Ruth Park in University City to Warson Park in Olivette and Lindbergh Boulevard and Schuetz Road in Creve Coeur.

Great Rivers cleared a major hurdle to building the Greenway in Olivette when it received federal approval to purchase former Union Pacific Railroad land in December, after 6 years of negotiations with the company and federal transit authorities.

The trail district paid $695,000 to buy a three-quarter-of-a-mile stretch of former railroad tracks there, between Olive Boulevard and Dielman Road, that have not been in use since the 1960s.

The land was identified by Olivette as a preferred route for the Centennial extension, but the transaction had to be approved by the Surface Transportation Board, an independent federal agency that regulates trains and train tracks.

Another segment in Olivette, from Dielman Road west to Warson Road, is under construction and will open to visitors May 3. The 1.3 mile path provides users access to Indian Meadows Park, Warson Park and the city’s new community center there, Five Oaks on Warson, in addition to Olive and Warson roadways.

In Creve Coeur, officials recently approved a funding agreement to extend the Centennial from Warson Road through the city’s 39 North Agtech Innovation District to Lindbergh Boulevard and Schuetz Road.

The Creve Coeur City Council last week approved an agreement with Great Rivers to build part of the Greenway from Baur Boulevard west across Lindbergh Boulevard to Schuetz Road. The $7.7 million project includes $3 million in funding from Great Rivers, and officials are applying for $4.5 million in federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program grant funding for the rest.

The city received a separate CMAQ grant in late 2024 to help fund construction of another segment from Warson Road to Baur Boulevard. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 and be completed by 2028.

Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here are just some photos from February 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.

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