After a couple of years of apparent inaction, the move to get a bike trail system in place has found another gear.
Construction on two of seven trails could begin as soon as February 2027.
The Rail Trail will begin near Chautauqua Park along an abandoned rail line, heading northeast. It eventually connects to East Indiana Avenue at North Aurora Street. It will follow Indiana west to North Main Street. The trail then goes north to Custer Avenue. This is where it connects with the Route 66 Trail. The two trails will cover 2.95 miles.
The other trails will be Chief City Trail, River Trail, School Trail, Elk’s Trail and Lincoln Trail.
The city received $951,250 from the Illinois Department of Transportation in 2021 to help kick-start the project.
It’s unclear how far that money will go.
“Construction costs are probably not the same as they were back then,” City Administrator Jim Woolford said. “We’ll see what that does to the overall $951,250 (grant).
The city hired the Farnsworth Group at its Aug. 4 meeting for $26,622.26 to complete planning and engineering for the project.
Erich Murphy is a reporter for the (Pontiac) Daily Leader. He can be reached at emurphy@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Wheels are finally turning on Pontiac bike trail project. Here’s what’s next
Reporting by Erich Murphy, Pontiac Daily Leader / Pontiac Daily Leader
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