Normal, Illinois, plans to spend $260,000 for a multi-use trail connecting the Route 66 Bike Trail at Towanda Avenue and Shelbourne Drive to Old Route 66, according to the Bloomington Pantagraph.
The project, part of a bigger project to connect an old Route 66 bicycle trail in nearby Towanda, Illinois, is part of Normal’s community investment plan. It’s funded by sales-tax revenue.
More about the project can be found at the city’s website:
This project has been developed through an intergovernmental agreement between five communities along historic US Route 66. It involves the construction of a hiking and biking trail along the road’s right-of-way. Engineering for the project has been funded by state highway enhancement grant funds. A cost sharing grant has been received for this project.
FY 2014-15 funding is for engineering costs associated with the section of trail from Normal to Towanda that will be built in 2015 through an ITEP grant McLean County received in November of 2010.
FY 2014-17 funding is for engineering costs for the section of trail north of Towanda that funding has been applied for in May 2012, for construction costs for the Normal to Towanda section, and for future proposed sections south of Shirley (1.1 mi) and from Towanda to Lexington.
A plan to connect a bike trail from Normal to Towanda on Route 66 long has been in the works. Over 30 miles of bicycle trails can be found in the metro area.
More about the Route 66 Bike Trail in the Bloomington-Normal area may be found with this map.
(Image of old Route 66 near Towanda, Illinois, by Ross Griff via Flickr)