Proposed bridge to save costs, link bicyclists

Pedestrians and cyclists could enjoy a new bridge across the Fox River near the Route 20 bypass, should a proposal by a local water treatment agency gain steam.

To shave costs on transporting sludge among its three treatment plants, the Fox River Water Reclamation District is hoping to build a new foot bridge somewhere near the Route 20 bypass within the next several years. The structure would shield a sludge pipe erected by the reclamation district and help save the agency an estimated $300,000 a year in costs, said Bob Trueblood, general manager of the district.

"We have two trucks which are on the road five days a week transporting 6,000 gallons of waste per load," Trueblood said. "They make 10 - 15 runs per day. With the cost of fuel so high, we want to see if the community is interested in other alternatives."

Trueblood is planning to meet with local city and county officials in the coming months to discuss the proposed bridge. Similar in size to the pedestrian structure underneath the I-90 bridge near Trout Park in Elgin and another in Valley View along the South Elgin and St. Charles border, a proposed bridge near the Route 20 bypass could provide a critical link between the Fox River Bike Trail, the National Street METRA station, the nearly eight-acre Grolich Park and the 21-acre Elgin Shores. Walkers and those on bicycles could also access several smaller city parks on the city's southeast side and the seven-acre Drake Field.

Trueblood said his 85-year-old agency, which provides wastewater treatment to more than 150,000 people in Elgin, South Elgin, West Dundee, and portions of Sleepy Hollow, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates and unincorporated St. Charles township, cannot afford the bridge alone. However, it could apply for state money and is willing to partner with Kane County and the city of Elgin, which within the past six months adopted a citywide bikeway system.

While city officials hash out details of the bike system, the first striped bike lanes within the city's street grid are planned in conjunction with upgrades to Wing Park Boulevard this year.

Elgin City Council member Dave Kaptain, a longtime proponent of a citywide bikeway system, said the proposal would provide many benefits.

"We would have three protected crossings across the Fox within a 10-mile proximity, and there is potentially a great commuter connection to the train station," he said. "These things take a while, so it is important to plan two to four years down the road."

An enhanced bikeway plan -- eventually encompassing the Sanfilippo property at the southwest corner of routes 20 and 31 -- could also provide a new link to the city's near-west, southwest and south east neighborhoods, which are splintered by the Fox River and the Route 20 bypass. There is no sidewalk on the bypass bridge or pedestrian bridge across the Bypass from the Elgin Sports Complex.

"Those neighborhoods suffer because they have very little connection to one another," he said. "The river and highway cut them into pieces. We need to be looking at alternative ways to connect them."

• Mark Billings can be reached by mail at Daily Herald, 385 Airport Road, Suite A, Elgin, IL 60123, by fax at (847) 608-0849, or e-mail foxvalley@ dailyherald.com.