Schaumburg buys right of way for bike path near Woodfield

Schaumburg trustees have authorized the purchase of $193,300 in right of way from a pair of property owners to enable a milelong bike path connection at Golf and Meacham roads, adjacent to Woodfield Mall.

The approximately $2 million connection would stretch from Higgins Road to American Lane on Meacham Road and from Roosevelt Boulevard to Meacham on Golf Road.

Last week, the village board voted to pay $127,000 to Schaumburg Property Owner LLC and $66,300 to BRE DDR Woodfield Village LLC to acquire the right of way.

Schaumburg has received federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funding that will cover a large portion of the design engineering, right of way and construction costs. The village’s share after grants is likely to be about $500,000, Engineering & Public Works Director Mike Hall said.

The connection continues existing bike paths along the north side of Golf and the east side of Meacham, he added. The Golf Road path is included in the Northwest Municipal Conference’s bicycle plan for the Golf Road regional corridor.

The new segment also would connect the recently built bike path along the north side of Golf Road from Roosevelt Boulevard, under I-290/IL-53, to Ring Road in Rolling Meadows and Busse Woods, Hall said.

The east-west and north-south paths will provide direct access to several key destinations in the Woodfield area.

Land acquisition was a factor delaying the project, but the village is working diligently to bring it before the Illinois Department of Transportation, Hall said. It’s unclear whether the project can start this year or will have to wait until next spring.