The McLean County Board in Illinois approved a $170,000 engineering contract in an effort to build a 3-mile bicycle path next to Route 66 from west Bloomington to Shirley, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.
The county hopes to eventually attract federal stimulus money to help pay for the $1.75 million project. Getting the bikeway “shovel ready” is one way to improve the chances of landing the funds to cover 80 percent of proposal.
If federal funds arrive, construction may start in the spring.