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| Elgin lays out bike route plan | |
| Apr 27, 2007 | |
| Steven Ross Johson, Staff Writer | |
| The Courier News | |
| Pertains to Elgin | |
| ELGIN -- The culmination of three years' worth of public planning and neighborhood input was laid out Thursday, as officials presented the first draft of a map detailing a citywide network of bike paths it wants to propose be created. But for the residents who attended, safety was at the forefront of their concerns. "I've been a competitive cyclist for 20 years, I don't race on the road anymore because it's not safe to ride on the roads anymore," said David Koldos, 48. "If it's not safe for a competitive cyclist who's been riding for 20 years, then it's not safe for my 10-year-old daughter." Elgin Public Works Director John Loete said now that a map of suggested routes had been drawn, the project was prepared to enter its next phase of development. That will involve extensive field analysis of each suggested bike path to determine whether those routes can practically work. "One of the keys for this bicycle master plan project was for them to make sure that the routes weren't just lines on a map," Loete said. "One of the things we didn't want to do was develop a plan that, when somebody went to actually build a piece of it, find out that there was some technical difficulty that made it impossible to be complete." Councilman David Kaptain, also executive director for the neighborhood advocate Elgin Community Network, has been a strong proponent for the construction of bike paths for years. He said the need for establishing a safe means for people to ride throughout town was nothing short of crucial for the city's vitality. "I think 20 or 30 years down the road we're going to have to get away from vehicular transportation," Kaptain said. "I think that for the long-term health of the community its essential." Kaptain acknowledged some roads presented special challenges due to their lack of accessibility. In particular, the downtown area is of considerable concern because of the heavy amount of construction taking place. But he remained confident the city's objective to provide safe paths for every part of town could be reached. "When we started this, our goal was to provide a safe means of transportation for every child in Elgin to get to the Gail Borden library," Kaptain said. "It gets everybody downtown and connects to the Kane County bike pass, so it really fit with what we wanted to do." The project is being headed by engineering firm TranSystems, DLK Civic Design and the Chicago Bicycle Federation, who will coordinate to conduct a logistical study of the plan. According to Loete, a second draft based on their findings is scheduled to be completed by mid-July, and a final report should be ready by September. |
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