Last night the Streets for Cycling 2020 Plan held its third public input meeting and it was a huge success.  More than 100 people showed up and provided project planners with that local knowledge that only local residents could provide.  Thanks to everyone who came out and who has been a part of the public process thus far.  There is still plenty of opportunity to get involved and Active Trans is proud and grateful to be a part of this historic process. Learn more at www.chicagobikes.org.

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Last week trail advocates and residents in Chicago Heights celebrated the long-awaited progress in the development of Old Plank Road Trail. The 22-mile paved trail is located about 30 miles south of Chicago, and connects the towns of Joilet, New Lenox, Frankfort, Matteson, Richton Park, Park Forest and Chicago Heights.

Initial construction on Old Plank Road Trail began in 1997; the trail constitutes a small but significant portion of the larger Grand Illinois Trail, which runs a total of 500 miles through Northern Illinois.

Over the past decade, advocates worked relentlessly to ensure a 0.8-mile section that passes through Chicago Heights would come to completion as a functional portion of the larger Illinois trail network. Opposition towards the trail stemmed from worries that the trail would lead to a spike in criminal activity, due to its location in a historically underserved community. However, many residents and advocates hope that the trail will have the reverse effect; it will increase foot traffic and improve the community as new environmental and sustainable projects – such as community gardens and farmers markets – develop as a result.

Old Plank Road Trail prohibits motorized vehicles, but allows pedestrians, cyclists, skaters, and leashed animals. For more information and a full history of the trail, visit OPRT.org.
 

West Town Bikes, located on Paseo Boricua (the stretch of Division street centered between Western and California avenues), in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood has long been known as a go-to resource for those looking for lessons in bicycle mechanics.

Their youth education programs, coupled with adult classes in the evenings, and a thriving storefront bicycle retail operation (Ciclo Urbano) have made West Town a center for promoting bicycle culture on Chicago's West side.

Recently, some of the program participants in West Town's youth education programs took their show on the road when five members of West Town's Girls Bike Club made the trek to January's second annual Youth Bike Summit hosted by Recycle-A-Bicycle in New York City.

The five teenage members of Girls Bike Club (Joceliz Arnaud, Tania Castillo, Shacora Hawkins, Ladijah Hollingsworth and Kayla Story) chaperoned by West Town’s Program Manager Liz Clarkson gave a presentation to some of the other 275 attendees from 20 other states about their one-of-a-kind club.

This club, along with West Town Bike's popular Women and Trans Open Shop Nights, both serve as shining examples of the fantastic work being done to expand the accessibility of bicycling as transportation to what many have designated the "indicator species"--namely women.

Programs like these, popular blogs on cycling with women in mind like "Let's Go Ride a Bike" (written by Chicago lawyer Dottie Brackett), women-specific rides such as the monthly Women who Bike brunch rides (also organised by Brackett), as well as expanding trends in cycling clothing and style that appeal to female riders are all part of a movement that brings cycling more and more into the mainstream.

There are even bicycle bags and accessories produced by local Chicago companies like Po Campo that are designed with women riders in mind.

So kudos again to West Town Girls Bike Club and your recent trip to the Big Apple. We hope that you inspired other young women to experience the empowerment that occurs with independent transportation choices like bicycling. We'll be on the lookout for girls bike clubs to be popping up all over!

Governor Quinn and the Illinois Department of Transportation announced the recipients of the long-awaited Safe Routes to School grant awards this week.

An amount of $21.7 million was divvied up among communities large and small, with funds going toward constructing new sidewalks, installing traffic calming strategies, organizing walking school buses, hosting bike rodeos, and more. All of these initiatives will contribute to safer and healthier environments for kids in grades K-12.

Many communities in northeastern Illinois will benefit from the grants, including unincorporated Des Plaines, West Chicago, University Park, Blue Island, Bridgeview, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, North Aurora, and South Elgin.

Active Trans provided technical assistance to several communities that applied for a Safe Routes to School grant during this round of funding. In total, we helped Illinois’ communities secure over $2.1 million in infrastructure funds and more than $200,000 in non-infrastructure funds.

To view a complete list of the awards, visit Illinois’ Safe Routes to School webpage.

Congratulations to all of the communities that received awards.
 

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