New path gives Mundelein students a way to walk or bike to school
Students at Mechanics Grove Elementary school in Mundelein have a new route allowing them to walk or bike to class, courtesy of the village.
The new 1,300-foot paved path from the Long Meadow Estates subdivision to a multiuse trail on Midlothian Road also provides area residents with access to a park, library and other facilities.
Completed Aug. 13, the path connects to the Hampton Reserve bike path spur from Turnberry Lane.
Its completion means all Mundelein District 75 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders living in the Longmeadow Estates and Hampton Reserve subdivisions no longer are eligible for bus service. The district provides free busing to students living more than 1.2 miles from school or who encounter a hazardous condition along their route.
The busing change affects about 26 families in the two subdivisions, not enough for a significant cost savings on busing. District 75 continues to bus students from Longmeadow Estates and Hampton Reserve to Lincoln, Washington, and Carl Sandburg schools.
"The greater good is it connects the entire Longmeadow Estates neighborhood to all the features there," Mundelein Elementary District 75 Superintendent Andy Henrikson said.
The $135,000 path was envisioned by the village several years ago. Mundelein received permission from the Illinois Department of Transportation to build across a right of way for the proposed Route 53 extension, and District 75 and the Mundelein Park and Recreation District also allowed the path on their properties.
Besides providing students a walking and biking path to school, the new path also can be taken to the Fremont Public Library, Keith Mione Community Park, Barefoot Bay aquatic center, a new Jewel store and the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Mundelein Village Administrator John Lobaito said the link to the multiuse path on Midlothian Road connects pedestrians and cyclists with many points of interest.
"The project is a great example of various facets of government working together to complete a task of benefit to many," he said.
Mundelein is a crossroads at which the North Shore and Millennium trails join, providing eventual access to the Des Plaines River Trail to the east and Wauconda as well as the Grand Illinois Trail to the west.