Gary Avenue in line for bike path, bus shelters

Construction could begin next year on a DuPage County project to add a nearly 3-mile bike path along Gary Avenue in Carol Stream.

The asphalt path will provide a link to the Great Western Trail at its southernmost end and serve commuters who will soon be able to wait for the bus under shelters Pace is installing at key intersections on the county road.

"It provides some good connectivity," said Bill Cleveland, Carol Stream's assistant village engineer. "You see a lot of people on bikes along the curb line and people walking up to the Stratford mall."

The path will run on the west side of Gary Avenue, from St. Charles Road north to Army Trail Road. The county still has to finish designs for the path, seek construction bids and determine costs.

But crews laid the groundwork for the project - installing retaining walls, for instance - during the county's widening and resurfacing of Gary Avenue. Those improvements were completed nearly two years ago.

The village was awarded a $1.875 million federal grant for the bike path in 2011 and transferred the rights for the funding to the county, the lead agency for the project, Cleveland said.

If needed, the county could ask the village to use its eminent domain powers to acquire property to make way for the path under an agreement Carol Stream trustees approved earlier this month. The county also would reimburse the village for such land acquisition costs.

Pace, meanwhile, received a county permit Wednesday morning allowing the bus shelters within its right-of-way on Gary Avenue.

The suburban bus service will pay to build five shelters on concrete pads already installed as part of the Gary Avenue roadwork, so village officials hope the shelters soon will be in place.

The shelters will be at the northeast and southwest corners of two intersections - at Elk Trail and Fullerton Avenue - along the busy thoroughfare. The fifth shelter will be at the southwest corner of Gary and Park Hill Trail.

Carol Stream trustees signed an agreement last year with Pace and Intersection Media LLC, a contractor for the suburban bus service. Under the deal, 32.5 percent of the revenue generated from selling ad space on the shelters will go to the village, 32.5 percent to Pace and 35 percent to Intersection Media.