The Village of Homewood

 

The bike-friendly village of Homewood will be even more so by September if things go as planned.

Ten main streets will have dedicated or shared bike lanes, and there will be more bike racks around town and route signs specifically for bicyclists.

The village board on Tuesday approved using $48,000 from its motor fuel tax fund to implement the long-awaited plan. The village had to match a portion of a $114,000 federal grant it received in 2007 from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, the goal of which was to get people out of cars and onto bikes.

The project was delayed for five years as the village waited for the Illinois Department of Transportation to get approval to alter some roads not under its jurisdiction, according to assistant village manager Jim Marino.

“It was an arduous process,” Marino said.

An engineering study was completed in 2010 by T.Y. Lin International Group. IDOT is to solicit bids on the project this month, and construction is expected to begin this summer.

“There will be restriping of some of the roads to designate dedicated or shared bike lanes, bike racks, signage, route signs to indicate designated routes, and destination signs to direct cyclists to parks, the village hall, the library or other destinations,” Marino said.

If the bidding process is on schedule, the project should be completed by September, he said.

The streets designated to also be used as bike routes include the entire length of Ashland Avenue in the village, and portions of Ridge Road, Dixie Highway, Maple Road, Center Avenue, 187th Street, Willow Road, Harwood Avenue, Park Avenue and Western Avenue.

The village’s long-term goal is “to interconnect our bike routes with other existing or planned routes throughout the south suburbs,” Marino said. “In time, we may be able to expand the routes as funds become available.”