ROCKFORD — A proposed $2.5 million multi-use path along Highcrest Road promises to improve the bike and walkability of the city while connecting a series of eastside on-street bike lanes and paths from Rock Valley College and the Perryville Road path to downtown Rockford.
But residents along what would be a protected 1.5-mile path on Highcrest stretching from Alpine Road to the Rock River Recreation Path have voiced a variety of objections over changes to their properties, safety along the path and about heavy traffic both on the street and on the proposed path.
Highcrest resident Carl Kole said the city is attempting for a second time to get an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Grant to pay for construction of the path after having failed previously to win it in 2020 when residents voiced concerns.
“They got absolutely tons of letters opposed to it,” Kole said. “Lots of issues that were raised had to do with the right of way and those kind of things. I could give a hoot about right-of-way stuff. I’m not concerned about that. I am concerned about safety.”
Rockford aldermen are expected this month to consider authorizing pursuit of a state active transportation grant, earmarked to improve bicycle and pedestrian amenities, to pay for the project. It would ultimately help connect 20 miles of multi-use paths and bike lanes on the city’s westside to 17 miles of paths and lanes on the city’s eastside.
Although the 10-foot-wide path would move cyclists off Highcrest — on which an average of 12,000 vehicles travel every day on some parts — and onto a multi-use path protected by a curb and 5-foot grass buffer, Kole and other residents say traffic is too dangerous there to install a path.
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Even though Highcrest residents are accustomed to watching out for pedestrians on sidewalks in the area, they also raise safety concerns about how the path would cut across roughly 70 driveways on the southside of the road. Some question how much demand there is for multi-use paths while others think they might lose privacy because of the additional foot and cycle traffic.
Rockford’s second 10-year bike plan authored in 2019 called for making the city more bike friendly with the establishment of more multi-use paths and bike lanes while completing connections to what is in some areas is a fragmented bike and pedestrian network.
A Highcrest path was designed as an alternative to a Spring Creek Road path which was ultimately rejected as an option because of the expense and the extensive need to acquire private property, City Engineer Jeremy Carter said.
Carter said signs would be installed on the path warning cyclists to look out for traffic crossing driveways on the path.
Ald. Chad Tuneberg, R-3, said improving Rockford’s active transportation network would improve quality of life in the city. But some residents are raising legitimate concerns and are making good suggestions on how it could be improved.
“This is part of the city’s long-range plan to connect all these multi-use paths that are hodge-podged throughout the city,” Tuneberg said. “So this would definitely be a big connection, but it’s our duty as a city to listen to citizen input no matter what side of the issue they are on.”
Highcrest resident John Hovlite said he has biked in Rockford for about 40 years and would prefer to see the path installed on nearby Buckingham Drive which he says would be safer and would disrupt the properties of fewer residents.
Hovlite said he would be unlikely to use the path if it were constructed.
“Not if on Highcrest because there is too much traffic on Highcrest,” Hovelite said. “I think it’s too dangerous.”
Residents can log on to highcrestconnections.com to learn more about the plans and to voice their opinions on it.
A Rockford Register Star reporter since 2005, Jeff Kolkey writes about city government, politics, trends in the Rockford region and more. He is a Rockford resident, a married father of two and a White Sox fan. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at [email protected] and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
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