FEBRUARY 2010 TRAIL NEWS

ITC IS TRYING OUT A NEW FORMAT.  Let me know what you think.

IN JANUARY ITC

·        Received Trailblazer Renewals from Ray Hoven from Gurnee, Len Lisiza & Bonnie Pink from McHenry, Don & Donna Shippy from Normal, William & Catherine Lee Jr. from Barrington and Peter Wahlgren from Wheaton who had previously dropped his membership.  THANKS TO ALL OF YOU.

·        Collaborated with Diane Banta from National Park Service to seek out a NEW DIRECTION FOR ITC.

·        Enrolled NEW MEMBER Jonathan Durston from Chicagoland Cycling Meetup thanks to the recommendation by Chuck Oestreich.  NEW MEMBERS ARE APPRECIATED AS WELL AS OLD.

·        Sought out advice from Mike Incopero regarding FORMAT CHANGE as suggested by Mike Kerber.

·        Exchanged information about FLORIDA BICYCLE TRAILS with Louise Grobl from Naperville.

·        Mailed out copies of the new RAIL-TRAILS Midwest Great Lakes Book to Trailblazer Renewals.

·        Suggested to IDOT that wide shoulders be included on the Illinois 71 Roadway Improvements.

·        Mailed out several IDOT Chicagoland Official Bicycle Maps to renewing members in the area.

·        Authorized updating the www.ILLTrails.com web site by Tommy Geer at American Bike Trails with the approval of Board Members, Ray Hoven, David Landeweer, Keith Mistrik, Kyle Harfst and Greg Luttrell.  Tommy added a BLOG and asked for direction and suggestions for improvements. TRY IT

·        Updated Membership Lists with address changes from Kent Lawrence from Oregon, Gary Lyons from Carbondale, Carl Shaver from Lombard, William Tornow from El Paso & Roy Treadway from Normal.

·        Denise Maxwell from Illinois Trail Riders says the new Statewide Horse Trail maps look good.

·        Center for Neighborhood Technology thanked ITC for the $50.00 donation. THEY DO GOOD WORK.

·        Deborah Fagan from DuPage County encouraged groups to host an event for the 10^th ANNIVERSARY GRAND ILLINOIS TRAIL CELEBRATION during 2010.  BEV IS KEEPING A LIST.

 

LOCAL TRAIL NEWS:

·        CITY OF CHICAGO Cherry Street Railroad Bridge for bicycle & pedestrian use is COMPLETE.

·        ILLINOIS PRAIRIE PATH  bridge in Wayne will be under construction Feb. through May.

·        PEORIA Recreational Trails Advocacy and Friends of the Rock Island Trail are pleased to report that Surface Transportation Board has agreed to a rails to trails conversion that could begin the last link through Peoria and Peoria Heights to the Rock Island State Trail.  GOOD JOB PEORIA FOLKS.

·        WOODSTOCK BICYCLE PLAN is available from Eberhard Veit at Eberhard.Veit@eisenmann.com

 

REGIONAL TRAIL NEWS:

·         DU PAGE COUNTY held a public forum meeting regarding Commonwealth Edison’s Tree Trimming Practices along the county’s trail system in January.  Deborah Fagan, Chief Planner for DuPage County hopes that communication will be the key to good cooperation to keep our trails attractive and usable. We all need to remember that initial trimming is not always attractive at first but will improve with time.

·         MC HENRY COUNTY BICYCLE ADVOCATES meet monthly to provide direction for surrounding communities of Crystal Lake, Cary, McHenry, Woodstock, Algonquin, Huntley, Harvard & Marengo.  Please check out their web site at www.McBicycleAdvocates.org and give them your support.

·         MC HENRY COUNTY BICYCLE CLUB has great members.  See www.mchenrybicycleclub.org

·         RMAP IN ROCKFORD is updating the Boone & Winnebago Regional Greenways & Trails Plan. 

 

STATE TRAIL NEWS:

·         IDNR GREENWAYS & TRAILS COUNCIL met in Springfield in January.  Items discussed included Recreation Trail Program Updates and Guidelines.  SAFETEA-LU has expired but been extended for 151 days.  Illinois apportions = $488,755.00.  Transportation Enhancement Funds supported by American Recovery Act Funds have been awarded.  A 10 year in the making project, the Sangamon Valley Trail will begin construction in the spring.  Hopefully some funds will come from Conservation Congress.

·         INTER-AGENCY BIKEWAYS WORKING GROUP COUNCIL met in Springfield in January.  Questions were asked by County Engineers regarding liability and jurisdiction of Multi-Use Trails.  CMAP will soon have the updated Regional Bicycle Plan completed.  Safe Routes to Schools have been awarded and can be found listed on the web site.  www.dot.il.gov/saferoutes/saferouteshome.aspx  Enhancement Projects can be found at www.dot.il.gov/opp/itep.html  Enhancements for 2010 are anticipated to be between $30 to $35 million which most likely will cover 2008 applications previously approved. 

·         Ed Barsotti from LIB shared information with Bev that had been discussed at a meeting with Bill Gruloh at IDOT in January.  Hopefully Rep. Elaine Nekritz will be able to implement a bill that is intended to increase the selection transparency and grant cycle predictability of the State’s administration of the federally-funded Illinois Transportation Enhancements Program. 

·         ROUTE 66 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING was cancelled due to weather. 

 

NATIONAL TRAIL NEWS:

·         NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Director Jon Jarvis says, “Gateway communities and parks have an important relationsip that needs to be grown through mutual respect and cooperation.

·         RAILS TO TRAILS WOULD LIKE YOU TO SUPPORT ACTIVE COMMUNITY TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 2010 which will be introduced on the House floor in a few weeks.  Please contact Kartik Sribarra, Manager of Policy Outreach at kartik@railstotrails.org to add your signature to a letter of support.  DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 8, 2010. 

·         TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENTS CLEARINGHOUSE tells us that the U.S. House of Representative passed the Jobs for Main Street Act which devotes $27.5 million to highway funding, which includes a 3% set-aside, or approximately $800 million for Transportation Enhancements.  SAFETEA-LU will be extended until September 30, 2010. 

 OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU - Newsletter Page 2

 

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