November 20, 2013 – The Quad City Riverfront Council (QCRFC) was created in 1985 by local elected officials in the Quad Cities through the Bi-State Regional Commission (BSRC).  The Riverfront Council is a coordinating body for riverfront planning for the purpose of encouraging and promoting riverfront development.  Membership was extended to the Bi-State Region in 1999.

The Riverfront Council provides an opportunity for coordination and communication of ideas among Bi-State Region representatives from both the public and private sectors on issues pertaining to our riverfronts.  In addition, the Council exchanges information on community planning, industrial and commercial development, recreational amenities and aesthetic enhancements of area waterfronts.  In 1996, BSRC in partnership with member government planners, local stakeholders, River Action Inc., and the Lakota Group developed the Mississippi River Corridor Design Principles.  This document provided design suggestions and underpinning principles for river access, signage and graphics, landscaping, riverfront art and resource enhancement.  These principles still guide development today.

Riverfront development in the region has incorporated a wide range of project types including recreation, conservation, residential, commercial, and industrial uses.  Members exchange information on community planning, current and proposed projects, commercial development, and aesthetic enhancement of our region’s shorelines at bimonthly meetings.  Riverfront Council members include chief elected officials/appointees, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Chambers of Commerce, Rock Island Arsenal, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, River Action, and Mississippi River Parkway Commission.

Riverfront trails and their spurs are one of the key indicators of progress and include extensions of the Mississippi River and American Discovery Trails in Bettendorf, Davenport, Muscatine, and Riverdale; the Grand Illinois, Rock River, Kiwanis, and Hennepin Canal Trails in the Illinois Quad Cities and Henry County; creek contributory connecting trails in the Iowa Quad Cities and Muscatine; the historic Cody Trail through LeClaire, Princeton, Eldridge, and Long Grove; and many others.

Riverfront planning and development has progressed within each jurisdiction including various projects completed, planned and underway including the following projects/plans:

•    River Heritage Park at First Crossing
•    Botanical Center Children’s Garden
•    Rock Island Multi-Use Transit Facility
•    Metro Link Maintenance Center
•    Rock Island Transient Docking Facility
•    Modern Woodman Park Ferris Wheel
•    Credit Island Battlefield Protection Project
•    Credit Island Lodge
•    Dock Restaurant Redevelopment
•    Quad City Amtrak/MultiModal Station
•    RiverBend Commons
•    Sylvan Bridge Improvement
•    I-74 Trail Bridge and Observation Area
•    Will B. Rolling Art Port Byron
•    Water Features Parks in Dav., Mol., Musc., and Rock Island

Today, over 25 years following its formation, the Riverfront Council envisions the Bi-State Region's river corridors, rivers and riverfronts, to be vital, distinctive and accessible, coordinated in their use, integrated in design, and cared for by all of us.