Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows share cost of Golf Road bike path

Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows officials have agreed to proportionately share the cost of preliminary engineering for a planned section of bike path along Golf Road that would complete an important route through the region.

Under the agreement, Rolling Meadows will pay 40 percent - up to $24,000 - of the $58,685 Schaumburg has already contracted for the work from Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. in Rosemont.

The new section of bike path would run along the north side of Golf Road from Roosevelt Boulevard in Schaumburg, just west of the Route 53 overpass, to Ring Road just east of it in Rolling Meadows.

The project includes a crosswalk at the intersection of Golf and Ring roads that would allow access to the Busse Woods bike trail system and existing Pace bus shelters.

The relatively short stretch of new bike path will allow bicyclists access to an uninterrupted choice of miles of existing paths on either side of the current gap, Schaumburg Assistant Village Manager Paula Hewson said.

"It certainly allows for a much safer path along a very busy road, Golf Road," she added.

While one of the goals of phase I engineering is to test the viability of a project, the bike path will be eligible for grant funding from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to cover 80 percent of its phase II engineering and construction costs if and when they occur, Hewson said.

The current plan is that Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows would then continue their 60-40 cost-sharing for the 20 percent of the phase II costs that would be their responsibility, she said.

The expected overall time frame for the project was not immediately available Wednesday.