Miles of improvements await Kane County bicyclists this spring

For Kane County bicyclists who can't wait to start pedaling this spring, many new enhancements along regional trails and city streets await.

"In the past few years, Kane County, Kendall County, and partnering municipalities have been hard at work to advance stalled bicycle and pedestrian projects, create new bicycle and pedestrian connections, and have put a priority on those connections in future programs," said Troy Simpson, Kane County Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator and Regional Planning Liaison for the Kane Kendall Council of Mayors.

Simpson said in 2021, six miles of new bicycle improvements were completed in Kane and Kendall counties, with another 27 miles currently in the engineering phase or under construction. He credits the Kane County Department of Transportation for its foresight to take a leadership role in the regional coordination of bicycle and pedestrian projects.

"The exceptional regional coordination of this work has been made possible because of the commitment of KDOT to staff a planner for KKCOM who is dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian issues," Simpson said. "KKCOM works with Kane and Kendall County municipalities along with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to secure and allocate federal funding for much of the bikeways that our residents benefit from every day."

Visit kdot.countyofkane.org/Publications/Kane_Kendall_Bike_Map_2020-10-07.pdf to find the latest downloadable bike maps for Kane County and northern Kendall County as well as the Kane Kendall Bicycle and Pedestrian App, which provides information on trails, bikeway type, surface type and traffic stress on major roads.

The app also provides information on bike shops, forest preserves and local parks.

An update to the downloadable map is coming in the spring for the 2022 riding season and will be available on the KDOT bicycle and pedestrian resources webpage.