James F. Zay Jr.
District 6 Representative
DuPage County Board
Carol Stream, IL

Memo

Mr. Lemon, 

I've sent you an e-mail  from County Board
Member, Jim Zay. It could make a nice posting
as follow-up from mine last week. 

Thanks, 

Greg Simunich 

I will follow up with staff.

Mike

Dear Alderman Kwasman,

Thank you for forwarding me the letter from Mr. Simunich regarding the Illinois Prairie Path and trail concerns in the West Chicago area.  In 2001, the City of West Chicago received a federal Surface Transportation Program grant to extend the County's Great Western Trail and provide a trail connection through the City of West Chicago to the Geneva Spur of the Illinois Prairie Path (IPP).  While the County was not aware of West Chicago's application until after the grant was received, we are supportive of West Chicago's efforts to complete this project and our staff is working with the West Chicago Public Works Department (the agency coordinating the project on behalf of the City).    The City is planning to proceed with this project over the next several years.  West Chicago has applied to the granting agency administrators (the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference) for a grant extension and increase in funding.   Approval of the City's extension and grant funding increase is not expected before next March.  Mr. Robert Flatter is the primary staff contact for this project with West Chicago Public Works.   When the City proceeds to design engineering, our staff will make sure to remind them to address your concerns regarding proper access for Waynewood, Ingalton Hills Estates and other residential areas within the community.

Regarding your other concerns about trail maintenance, I have contacted the Division of Transportation Maintenance Division about this issue and they are will be checking the area to make sure the trail surface is in good condition.  Earlier this year the crews completed resurfacing work at Nagel Court and at Prince Crossing Road along the IPP Elgin Branch. We have also scheduled additional resurfacing work on the Geneva Spur near Reed-Keepler Park.  Lastly, we did quite a lot of clean-up near Reed-Keepler this year
due to some illegal dumping problems in the area.

As far as our area getting its "fair share" of the County's efforts, I am proud to say that District 6 has more miles of existing and proposed trails and multi-use paths than any other County Board District.  According to the Department of Economic Development and Planning, there are 170 miles of existing and future proposed bikeways for our area which is 27% of the County total.  There are also some exciting new projects forthcoming including:

New IPP Elgin Branch Prairie Path Bridge over the EJ&E    The County has expended $209,000 on engineering for this new bridge, and with the help of Rep. Hastert, we are expecting a $960,000 federal grant to help pay for this construction with the County supplying the remaining funding needed for completing the construction and engineering costs (approximately $240,000).

DuPage Technology Corridor Trail   The County has developed a concept plan for a new long-range north-south trail in western DuPage County starting at the Batavia Spur of the IPP and ending at the Elgin Branch of the IPP. Along the route it will connect DuPage Airport, DuPage Technology Park, the Geneva Spur of the IPP, Fermi lab and area Forest Preserves.  I'm happy to report that the Technology Park is proceeding with construction of its portion of this new trail this year.  The very preliminary estimated cost of this overall trail, while expected to be developed over many years, is $12 million.  

If there are any questions or I can provide you with any additional information, please feel free to contact me. 

Sincerely,
Jim Zay
County Board Member, District 6