Work set to begin on DuPage River Trail
Naperville-area residents will have a couple extra miles of trails for hiking and biking by next summer.
Work is beginning next week on the fourth segment of the DuPage River Trail.
The 2.5-mile stretch will begin where the existing path leaves off near 87th Street and the DuPage River in Naperville and head south to Washington Street and Royce Road.
"It's going to provide a lot of connectivity to the bicycle network that (not only) provides great recreational opportunities to residents but also viable alternative transportation options," said Jennifer Louden, project engineer.
The latest extension is the fourth of five segments along the path.
Segment four will begin near 87th Street and the DuPage River and head south to Ring Road. After crossing Washington Street it will continue along Ring and Knoch Knolls roads, through Knoch Knolls Park, Glyman Woods and the DuPage River Sports Complex before ending at Washington Street and Royce Road.
The trail will be a 12-foot-wide asphalt path with pedestrian bridges over a creek south of 87th Street and over the DuPage River in Knoch Knolls Park, Louden said.
Nonmotorized traffic - walkers, runners, rollerskaters and bikers - will be allowed to use the path.
Louden said the fourth segment of the extension should be ready by summer 2010 and will provide an important link in the network of existing trails.
The DuPage Forest Preserve District also is working on the trail on the north side of Naperville between Ogden and Jefferson avenues.
The trail eventually will connect to the Illinois Prairie Path to the north and the Virgil Gilman Trail to the south.
Naperville is one of three Illinois cities designated as "bicycle friendly" by the League of American Bicyclists and the trail extension likely will add to that reputation.
"This demonstrates why the city is bike friendly and becoming even more bike friendly because we're putting in more amenities for the community," Louden said.
In the summer of 2007, the city did a count of people using the DuPage River Trail. At the point where it intersects with DuPage County's regional trail, there were almost 1,200 people in a single weekend day.
The extension project is a partnership among Naperville, its park district and the forest preserve district. The three reached an agreement in 1992 to create the trail through Naperville.
The fourth segment uses park district and forest preserve land and city money. It will cost $2.5 million but due to federal stimulus money and other grants, the city will only be chipping in about $126,000.
Construction will not affect the use of the existing trail. However a separate road-widening project at 75th and Washington streets will close the trail between Pioneer Park and Hobson Road from Friday to early November. Detour routes through the neighborhoods east of the DuPage River have been posted.