Earlier this week Streetsblog’s covered the controversy over the Illinois Department of Transportation’s plans to relocate a section of the Illinois Prairie Path in west-suburban Hillside as a safety strategy. From reading the piece, which I edited, you might have gotten the impression that former Ashland Avenue bus rapid transit opponent Roger Romanelli, who’s using the bike trail project as a campaign issue in his run for village trustee, is the only party in the wrong here. Romanelli is pushing an alternative to the trail relocation that wouldn’t fully address existing path safety issues.
But IDOT’s plan is also far from ideal. So if we really care about improving safety and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists, the real solution is a third option, which I’ll discuss in a bit.