Users of Springfield’s Interurban Trail have known for some time now that once construction begins on a project to lengthen MacArthur Boulevard to Interstate 72, they would have to find somewhere else to jog, ride, walk, and skate.
But as plans inch forward for the proposed MacArthur Extension, what will become of the 1.4 mile-long path that extends from the intersection at MacArthur and Wabash Avenue toward Chatham remains uncertain.
Even though they’re pleased that the trail won’t be sacrificed to make room for the extension and future developments, several organizations are unhappy about the number of crossings in the plan.
“Those are really going to have an adverse effect on trail users — and not just cyclists, but moms with strollers, kids on skateboards, Rollerbladers,” says Lynn Miller, project director of the League of Illinois Bicyclists.
“We understand, with the development, it will no longer be the rural trail that we’re used to, but we feel that the city and the state need to come up with a safer resolution,” he says.
Because the trail, which was built with state money, existed before the extension was proposed, Miller says certain steps must be taken to mitigate safety hazards to trail users — requirements with which IDOT and the city have not complied.
The city and state have ignored the amenities that this, and other, trails provide, Miller says. While Springfield is chopping up the Interurban Trail, other Illinois cities, including East St. Louis, Bloomington-Normal and Chicago, are investing heavily in bike trails. Springfield, meanwhile, has just 15 miles of trail — Wabash, the Lost Bridge, and the Interurban.
In a Nov. 24 letter to area residents, trail users, and local and state officials, the Springfield Bicycle Club states: “We neither oppose the MacArthur Extension nor the development that will follow. We do demand the fair treatment of a public facility that contributes to the quality of life and well being of Springfield residents.”
The failure of IDOT and the city of Springfield to consider their responsibility to trail users, the letter continues, “is a gross violation of the public funds in the construction of the trail. The Interurban Trail is a public facility, constructed with public funds, but it is being treated as disposable.”
Springfield public-works director Mike Norris wasn’t aware of the criticisms of the project. “I’m surprised they would say that, because we’ve been working with them for the last year or year and a half,” he says.
Representatives of the Springfield Bicycle Club, the Springfield Road Runners, the Springfield Ski Club, and the Sierra Club did agree to an earlier version of the plan. However, the project’s scope has changed.
Legacy Pointe Development Co. has proposed to widen MacArthur from four to six lanes to accommodate its future Legacy Pointe Town Center and has offered to relocate the bike trail to the west of the development, completely away from the soon-to-be-traffic-heavy thoroughfare. IDOT officials are considering those proposals.
Under the most recent IDOT proposal, the Interurban Trail is to be redirected to the west side of the MacArthur extension but would be interrupted in several places: Westchester Boulevard, Iles Junction/Lindbergh Boulevard, and Lincolnshire Boulevard.
As planned, the trail passes beneath MacArthur south of Lincolnshire, then crosses over the West Grand railroad by way of an overpass, and then continues south to Chatham. From I-72 to Chatham, the trail would remain unaltered.
In its letter, the Springfield Bicycle Club supported the developer’s idea to move the Interurban west of the Legacy Pointe development, rather than alongside MacArthur, and reroute it to a nearby abandoned railway.
In addition, the clubs wants bridges or tunnels constructed over Legacy Pointe’s crossings at Lincolnshire and Lindbergh boulevards.
All of that, the city’s Norris says, takes time and money. Besides, he says, other pathways in the city work just fine in conjunction with traffic.
“Do we put bridges over all of them?” Norris asks.
Steve Luker, managing partner of Legacy Pointe Development Co., says that although his firm has offered to move the trail, they “haven’t gotten into nuts and bolts” of requests for bridges and tunnels.
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinositimes.com
This article appears in Nov 23-29, 2006.
