Fulbright Spring Greenway Connector Closing Indefinitely
Category News, Projects | Posted on March 6, 2018
We have some news to share with you, and it’s a bummer. The gravel road/trail that folks use as a connector trail across the Sac River Landfill, to go between the Fulbright Spring Greenway, Sac River Mountain Bike Trail and Ritter Springs Park is closed indefinitely. This is a pretty complex situation, and we'll do our best to explain it as succinctly as possible.
We have been informed by the City of Springfield that they have officially closed this gravel road/trail connection due to EPA and MDNR regulations regarding how close people can be in proximity to the Sac River Landfill where this trail section crosses. Allowing folks to use it is now viewed as a safety and liability issue.
We recently learned that official permissions were never granted by the EPA and MDNR for this area of the Sac River Landfill, including the trail, to be opened for public use. In the long run, this area could be reopened after more work and extensive testing have been completed at this site. We have been provided with a 5-10 year time frame.
Please know that Ozark Greenways and our partners at the Springfield-Greene County Park Board and City of Springfield are keeping an open dialogue so we can work together to get this reopened at some point in the future. Unfortunately, this is somewhat out of our local control due to EPA and MDNR landfill regulations.
To end on a positive note, we are in hopes of having the Fulbright Spring Greenway completed from Ritter Springs, via David C. Murray Trailhead and Lost Hill Park, to Truman Elementary School Park. We will actually be crossing the old Fulbright Landfill, which has been granted permission by the EPA and MDNR to be returned to use via a public trail based on years of thorough site rehabilitation; however, we have another round of testing that we have to do and hope to get started on that soon. The City of Springfield has been a great partner and resource for helping us work with EPA and MDNR on the Fulbright Spring Greenway project and when the time is right we look forward to working with them to reopen this road/trail connection. The City of Springfield owns and manages the Sac River Landfill and can be reached via their Citizen Resource Center at (417) 864-1010.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
- Mary Kromrey, Ozark Greenways Executive Director