Bike path slated for Sleepy Hollow

A recent conference in Elgin highlighted the strong connection between our physical environment and our health.

Just next door, in Sleepy Hollow, village leaders have taken that message to heart.

The village is planning to build to bicycle and pedestrian path that would connect Sleepy Hollow to existing paths in unincorporated Dundee Township.

When the path is completed, residents should be able to ride their bikes down into the Jelke Creek Bird Sanctuary and up into the trail system that runs up and down the Fox River.

“Right now you have to drive and park, or take your chances on Sleepy Hollow Road, both of which are not good options,” said Trustee Scott Finney, chairman of the village’s environmental committee, which has overseen the project. “It’s the first developed path system that we’d have.”

The path has been in the works since two to three years ago, when the bird sanctuary hadn’t yet been completed. The plan was always to connect Sleepy Hollow’s open space to Dundee Township’s after Jelke Creek opened in 2010.

Then-Trustee Todd Prigge was able to secure a $90,000 state grant to cover the estimated $114,000 price tag. Sleepy Hollow will pay the rest.

The path will start just south of village hall (Thorobred Lane and Sleepy Hollow Road), run through village-owned open space parallel to Sleepy Hollow Road, curve around the Headless Horseman barn and continue south to Jelke Creek. When it is completed, the Sleepy Hollow trail will be a little more than a mile long.

Engineering work has already been completed. The state now must review the plans before granting final approval to the project. The village expects to complete work on the project in the 2012 construction season.

“It’ll really be a nice link not only for the residents but for other people as well,” Prigge said.