Friday, August 12, 2011

On The Trail

McHenry County Conservation District announced that construction will begin next week on a .7 mile eastbound extension of the Ridgefield Trace bike trail.  Currently the trail begins at McHenry County College and runs two miles to near Oak Street in Crystal Lake. The new 10’ wide asphalt trail will pick up where the other left off at Oak Street and travel to Walkup Road/Veterans Acres Park in Crystal Lake along the ComEd right-of-way. This new phase is expected to be completed by mid November.

“The trail will serve to connect the rapidly growing Crystal Lake area and provide pedestrians and cyclists a safe alternative to road side travel. In addition, this trail allows the opportunity for local students and faculty headed to MCC to ride their bikes to the community college, thereby easing traffic congestion and reducing air pollution,” said Director of Operation John Kremer.

This portion of the trail was funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) through a through CMAQ grant (Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality Improvement Program), which finances projects that will contribute to improving air quality and reducing congestion.

This is the next phase of a longer 7.5 mile regional trail that is envisioned to extend from Route 47, near McConnell Road in Woodstock, through Veterans Acre Park in Crystal Lake and link to the Prairie Trail. 

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