Bike trail dead end at Carol Stream will soon be history

Bicyclists taking a spin on a trail along the DuPage River's west branch will no longer hit a frustrating dead end in Carol Stream.

This fall, construction is expected to wrap up on an asphalt path filling the gap in the trail between St. Charles Road and the West Branch Forest Preserve.

The roughly $2.4 million project to build and design the path broke ground in May. About 80 percent of the construction costs are covered by grants. The village, DuPage County Forest Preserve District and Wayne Township Road District are paying for the rest of the work.

The new, 2.2-mile segment will run along the eastern side of Fair Oaks Road from Army Trail Road south to St. Charles Road. From there, the path will continue west on the south side of St. Charles and connect into the existing West Branch DuPage River Trail, which now comes to a halt where the river crosses under the road. The system picks up again further north at the preserve's entrance off Fair Oaks.

The new path also will branch off in a neighborhood east of St. Charles and Fair Oaks, allowing parents and kids to stay off the road on the way to Benjamin Middle School in an unincorporated area near West Chicago.

“It's important for the school district, and a lot of residents over there are excited about it,” Carol Stream Engineering Services Director Jim Knudsen said Tuesday.

Pedestrians are so anxious for the path that they've already started to walk on the gravel crews have set down as a base for the asphalt. But Knudsen said pedestrians should avoid what's still a construction zone.

“We do anticipate that we'll have to keep part of the path closed until all the improvements are in,” including adding wheelchair-accessible ramps at intersections along the route, Knudsen said.

The village and the road district are each kicking in about $166,000 toward construction, while the forest preserve district is contributing about $198,000. About 80 percent of the design work also was covered by grant funding from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program.

Recipients are awarded the money partly because of their efforts to promote alternative modes of transportation and improve access to businesses and other high-volume areas. Fair Oaks is “fairly narrow” and doesn't offer a lot of room for bicyclists to share the road with cars, Knudson said.

“The whole goal is to get reductions in vehicle trips” and cut down on emissions, he said.

Construction of the path should be complete in September or October.