A long-sought off-road path along Stearns Road that would connect existing paths off Munger Road in Bartlett with James “Pate” Philip State Park to the west was rejected for some state funding in May. But DuPage County is moving ahead with plans anyway — and it sought bicyclists’ opinions.
The county’s Division of Transportation and the engineers it hired presented three options for the path Sept. 18. The differences are which side of the road and how far away from traffic the path would be.
The project’s purpose, the county says, is “to provide a continuous path connection between the DuPage/Kane County line and IL 59.” There’s already a sidepath along Stearns east of Munger and leading to Route 59, though it’s just a sidewalk in spots. On the west, a path out of the Philip state park connects to the Fox River Trail.
The county further describes the “project need”: “Improve connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists along the Stearns Road corridor. Provide safe non-motorized access to James ‘Pate’ Philip State Park, other area parks, and places of business.”
Project timeline
The county welcomed handwritten feedback at its Sept. 18 open house at the Bartlett Community Center, and it took feedback on the options until Oct. 10. But there’s no website (as of this writing) showing the options or providing a feedback form. If you want to submit feedback, you’d have to email the engineers at Nithin Joseph, Nithin.Joseph@dupagecounty.gov.
The fairly quick Oct. 10 deadline comes even though no construction is expected to be done for years.
After “survey and data collection” last fall, the project now is in the “feasibility studies” portion of the project timeline. Phase I preliminary engineering and environmental studies are set to take place from 2025 to 2027 (!), while “funding pursuits” also are to take place over those three years. Phase II engineering doesn’t happen until 2027-28.
The funding is a big question after the Stearns Road path was one of about three dozen suburban bike-ped projects rejected for “Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program” funding this year. One county document put the path at 1.67 miles long, but the state list of rejected projects puts it at 2.8 miles, extending it east to Sayer Road just west of Route 59, replacing sidewalk, with $3 million requested.
The latest plans concern a path only between the Kane/DuPage county line and Munger Road.
The three proposals
Let’s take a look at the three options, all with a 10-foot-wide sidepath. The engineers provided renderings and illustrations, including by video.
North Alternative 1: The first proposal places the off-road path on the north side of Stearns Road and, of the three options, nearest to traffic. It replaces the 8-foot-wide shoulder with 2.5 feet of new curb and gutter, with sewer inlets, and a 5-foot-wide grass buffer. It would require adding a sewer line; the new curb and gutter and that line would add to the cost.
North Alternative 2: The second north-side proposal places the path farther away from traffic. The shoulder and existing ditch or swale remain as they are now, while the path would be built to the north of it. There’d be no new curb and gutter or sewer line, saving that cost, but more easements for grading and maybe even land acquisition may be required with the path farther inland. It’s possible the path may have to shift closer to traffic in a spot here or there anyway because of unattainable land.
South alternative: One last option is to place the path on the south side of Stearns Road. That places the path farther from traffic as in North Alternative 2 while avoiding any curb, gutter and sewer work, and there’d possibly be even less utility work. Plus there are no businesses on the south side of Stearns, so maybe there’d be less of a land acquisition issue, though Pratt’s Wayne Woods is there. The biggest drawback, however, is that bicyclists would have to cross the four-lane Stearns to enter “Pate” Philip State Park. Safety measures for the crossing would have to be considered.
Here are the illustrations and diagrams with measurements of all three options, as shown at the Sept. 18 open house.
Right now, many bicyclists are riding that Stearns Road shoulder between Munger and the state park. It’s roomy enough, but it often has obstacles like gravel and debris, and the traffic including large trucks zooming by. Here’s a video of what that looks like.
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