The Route 66 town of Chenoa, Ill., was awarded a $300,000 grant to help convert an aging three-mile stretch of the Mother Road into a bicycle trail, the Bloomington Pantagraph reported.
Officials hope the portion of Route 66 will become a part of the Route 66 Bike Trail, from Chicago to St. Louis. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin made the announcement Thursday.
Supporters envision a time when the completed Route 66 Trail will connect with local bike paths like Cook County’s extensive biking system and Constitution Trail, a popular linear park created from a former railroad right-of-way through the Twin Cities. […]
“What we know today is that people are already biking Route 66,” added Dick Westfall, manager of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources greenways and trails section. “The concept for the Route 66 Trail is to create momentum so local trails like Chenoa’s can get off the ground and gain some ‘oomph’ from being a part of a larger system.”
Donovan Gardner, 75, a Pontiac city councilman and long-distance cyclist who chairs the Route 66 Trail Executive Committee, has witnessed what trails have done for local economies in neighboring states like Wisconsin and Missouri.
“Some of those communities wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for a trail,” Gardner said. “People stop, eat, shop. … It’s a significant part of tourism and economic development.”
The more, the merrier.
UPDATE 9/14/07: The Pontiac Daily Leader has a few more details about the Chenoa trail itself:
Durbin of Springfield helped the city get a $297,000 grant for the 2.35-mile, 12-foot wide bike trail through the city. The projected cost is $780,000, and at least the first phase of construction is expected in spring 2008.
The trail will have a two-foot gravel shoulder, an eight-foot-wide main trail and a two-foot asphalt shoulder. Brian Fisher, an engineer with the Farnsworth Group who designed the trail, said the gravel was a cost-saving measure.
Hey Ron,
Help me understand this a little…they are converting a stretch of Rte. 66 into a bike path? This is a good thing? Is this roadbed that was otherwise unused, and inaccessible to motorists? If you are for it, I’m guessing it’s a good thing.
There is an inaccessible roadbed that runs unused through Chenoa. Route 66, like many stretches through Illinois, once was a divided four-lane highway. When Interstate 55 came, local officials closed off two of Route 66’s lanes and left the remaining two for local traffic.
I’m not certain the Route 66 Bike Trail will use the entire abandoned roadbed in Chenoa, however. If you look at maps for the Route 66 Bike Trail, you’ll find the routes frequently detour away from the road to go through downtowns and quiet rural areas. I suspect the Chenoa trail will be a mix of downtown and rural routes and the abandoned Route 66 roadbed.
I got it. That’s very interesting. I didn’t know parts of it had been divided highway. By the time I was old enough to become aware of 66, it was already largely decommissioned, and where it went through my town, was just referred to as the “bypass”, and was, as you suggest, just a 2 lane. If there’s an abandoned stretch sitting, waiting to be rediscovered, this sounds like a great re-use. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Ron. I’m really enjoying this site.