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| Painter wants smoother paths at Forest Preserve | |
| May 18, 2007 | |
| Lane Kelley lkelley@libertysuburban.com | |
| Darien Suburban Life | |
| Pertains to IPP - Main Stem, Sawmill Creek, Darien | |
| Darien, IL - Linda Painter wants a smoother path for people who get around on wheels at the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. Painter, 48, who lives near Waterfall Glen next to Argonne National Laboratory, recently announced she is running for the District 3 seat on the district board next year. A Republican committeewoman for 10 years and secretary for the Downers Grove Township Republican organization for the past eight, Painter said she wants to improve access to the preserve. Painter knows the preserve’s highlights and deficiencies because she only lives a block away and drives through it daily. "Some of the biggest assets of DuPage County are its open spaces," she said. "But they have to have more easy access to the Forest Preserve." A pediatric nurse for 27 years, Painter wants more open space and educational programs for children. But her main campaign plank will be to provide accessibility to the preserve for disabled people and families with small kids in strollers. "The paths right now are crushed limestone, so you can’t take walkers and wheelchairs and baby strollers because they get stuck in the ruts," Painter said. "I’d like to see a small paved circular path that would be black-topped, it would be a smooth kind of surface." Blacktop may be the way to go but maybe not. Ray Bartel, with the Illinois Prairie Paths group overseeing 62 miles of trails in DuPage, Kane and Cook Counties, said crushed limestone is "pretty reliable and resilient." He added it is not unmanageable for the wheelchair-bound. "I can see the other point of view in terms of the blacktop, but I also feel that the limestone screening is probably the most resourceful type of pavement for multi-use trails," Bartel said. Painter disagreed. "To take a stroller on that is pretty bumpy. ... I used to take my kids on it when they were little," she said. |
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