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| Hoffman Estates bike paths could connect to Schaumburg | |
| Jan 1, 2008 | |
| Josh Singer jsinger@pioneerlocal.com | |
| Pioneer Press | |
| Pertains to Hoffman Estates | |
| Hoffman Estates has drafted a bicycle path plan that could reduce pollution from cars and offer residents another way to travel. A new village report outlines plans to install a network of bike paths, although much of the actual construction hinges on funding. After discussions about creating a bicycle a network started in February 2008, the Hoffman Estates Transportation and Engineering Department studied possibilities and created a first draft of a bicycle map. Village Trustee Gary Pilafas said at the Nov. 17 board meeting, when the bicycle update was released, that he has received responses at regional meetings about the plan ranging from praise to comments that such a network is overdue. Hoffman Estates, which includes large parcels of Cook County Forest Preserve land, currently has 26.5 miles of off-street paths. The new report recommends a "focus on logical connections with adjacent existing facilities," such as these Forest Preserve paths and existing lanes in bike-friendly Schaumburg. The village's transportation department has ranked streets to determine where bike paths, lanes or routes can be installed. Transportation authorities identified the potential for 48 miles of an on-street bike network in the village, including 45 miles of bike routes and three miles of bike lanes, plus 15 miles of off-street paths. The Higgins Road Bicycle Path, a major east-west connection to be completed with an off-street path, has received $600,000 in federal grant money. Money came to Hoffman Estates for the project through the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program, which seeks to reduce ground-level ozone created by cars. Some plans for the bicycle network are more affordable than others. A bike route, which consists mainly of signs guiding people to preferred streets for cycling, costs an estimated $3,000 per mile, while a four-foot wide lane costs $9,000 per mile. Paths depend largely on state and federal grants because of the expense of acquiring and constructing them. Hoffman Estates traffic engineer Nathan Roseberry said bike routes and lanes were "doable" within five years, estimating the cost at $200,000 for all of the signs and lane markings. But he emphasized that no timeline has been set and the next step is gathering public input. For more information and to see the proposed maps, go to www.hoffmanestates.com/transportation. |
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