ILLINOIS TRAILS CONSERVANCY
MARCH 2008 TRAIL NEWS - HAPPY ST. PATTY’S DAY
NEWS FROM ITC MEMBERS IS HELPFUL, FUN & INFORMATIVE.
ITC received Trailblazer annual renewals of $300.00 from Sally Olds in Chicago, $100.00 from Art Krumrey in Chicago and $90.00 from Bryce Hopp in Algonquin. THANK YOU ALL.
Marc Adami from Morrison & Bruce Nelson from Burr Ridge sent Bev their new e-mail addresses. PLEASE BE SURE TO UPDATE YOURS.
Mary Anne & Ron Ayers from Flora invited Bev to stop in Flora on her way home from Florida. They were pleased with the picture of the Flora Depot on the ITC Annual Report. Now they want a trail.
Peter Botzek from Chicago sent Bev one of his wonderful bicycle stories “The Seagull & My 68th Birthday”. Needless to say, his bicycle story takes place in Fort Meyers Florida. GREAT BIKING IN FLORIDA.
Former Member Rosemarie Gatehouse from Northwoods received an annual Report and reminded Bev that she has moved to California. ITC KEEPS IN TOUCH WHEREVER YOU ARE.
Tom & Frances King from Springfield sent Bev their new postal address. IS YOUR’S CURRENT??
Donna Kurtz from Crystal Lake e-mailed that she is in Colorado leading a Sierra Club cross county ski trip.
Greg Luttrell from Granite City is a featured speaker at a Healthy & Active Communities Initiative for TRAIL NET in St. Louis. His topic is Designing Complete Streets & Great Streets. ITC HAS TALENTED MEMBERS.
David Maki from Elmhurst e-mailed Bev with directions for a mass transit route to the BIKE SHOW. He also announced that he will become a GRANDPA in September so will not plan to attend Little Rock Conference.
Mike Rucker in Peoria forwarded a request for Peoria Trail information. SHARING INFO IS IMPORTANT.
Bonnie Pink from McHenry returned from Florida to snow up to her knees. No biking in Illinois for Bonnie. She is creating pieces of art out of recycled bike parts. ITC MEMBERS ARE CREATIVE & ARTISTIC.
Rob Sperl from Warrenville notified BRATS members that the February meeting in Wheaton was cancelled due to weather and road conditions. They plan to meet in March. LOCAL ADVOCACY IS GREAT.
Greg Valent from Chicago forwarded a newspaper article to ITC that the “Wauconda Bike Path Plan is Dead”. Bev forwarded this information to Ron Saluski in Wauconda and asked if ITC could send some kind of encouragement to the community leaders to convince them not to give up. Mayor Salvatore Saccomanno said the project will likely be revisited if voters approve a referendum. Greg also shared information about St Petersburg, Florida Mayor Rick Baker who encourages bicycling and walking. Bev met him in Orlando at the Land Use Plan Seminar that she attended. In an e-mail response to Greg someone encouraged support for the Skokie Valley Trail at a March 6 Public Meeting at Wilmette City Hall from 7:00-8:30 p.m.. PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN.
Cathy Winslow from Galena postal mailed copies of a newspaper article “Counties target cycling lawsuits” regarding the RAGBRAI accident that resulted in the death of a cyclist.
ITC BOARD MEMBERS ARE BUSY WORKING FOR YOU
George Burrier from Morton shared a letter to the Public Works Director in Little Rock Arkansas asking for information about a new trail. George & Sandi have ridden trails in 42 states. BOY DO THEY GET AROUND. They keep ITC informed regarding the Recreation Trail Advocates in Peoria. George has completed a History of the Keller Line Trail Project starting in 1980 through February 2008. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRAIL
Ron Hambly from Plainfield has been assisting Bev with finding an Advisory Person for Snowmobile Trails.
Bob Hargis from Charleston sent Bev a list of suggestions for the proposed trail summit in Springfield. Bev forwarded them to Dick Westfall at IDNR. He attended a meeting of the CCDC Kickapoo Trail Committee near Mahomet. Some good results and some not so good from the meeting. He also attended a meeting of the Effingham Trail Committee TREC. Good news is that Frank Brummer was re-elected as chairman. Phase I project is to Lake Sara with future projects listed. BUILDING TRAILS IN ILLINOIS IS NOT EASY.
Bruce Perry from Port Byron attended the Grand Illinois Trail Meeting at Starved Rock. He reported that several trail projects are experiencing significant progress but with a caution of rough trails ahead due to lack of funds. He asked Bev to pass on congratulations to Cathy Winslow on extensions of the Galena Trail. His own local interest in the Savanna gap was disappointing that the bid letting was delayed. ITC BOARD WORKS FOR TRAILS.
ACCESS IDOT Transportation Enhancement Program on successive linked pages beginning at www.dot.il.gov/opp/WebRep2.html and more Enhancements info @ www.enhancements.org
ITC ACTIONS IN FEBRUARY INCLUDE:
February 1 – Created, copied & distributed FEBRUARY TRAIL NEWS to 226 ITC Members.
February 5 – Received requests from IDOT asking for information of trail plans in the City of West Frankfort, in Franklin County and another project for the rehabilitation of the I-57 corridor that intersects the abandoned Norfolk & West Railroad located approximately .8 mile north of Illinois Route 9. Bev will get info for them.
February 6 – Composed, edited and mailed a letter to U.S. DOT Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters regarding her comments regarding the Minneapolis Bridge collapse. Rennie Ballagh had expressed his concern, Mike Incopero assisted with suggestions for the letter and encouragement was received from RTC. Packets of information were mailed out to ITC Board Members and Advisory Members.
February 7 – Received a request from Chicago Bicycle Federation for mailing list. ITC does not share lists.
February 7 – Received notice of the GIT meeting at 10:30 a.m. on February 11. Bev asked for ITC Board help.
February 8 – Received request from Kartik Srinivas at RTC to contact Chicago Bicycle Federation. He thanked Bev for her letter to U.S. DOT Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters regarding her comments. He also asked if ITC could support their promotion Burning Calories rather than Carbon which Bev forwarded to Tom G. Tommy Greer our web manager has added a link to our ITC web site.
February 11 – Bev requested the address of Mayor of Wauconda so she could offer encouragement regarding the trail. Ron Saluski from Wauconda replied. Bev will work on getting a letter out.
February 11 – Bev contacted Balsley Printing to ask them to e-mail the annual report to the ITC web manager.
February 15 – Received “Connections” newsletter regarding Transportation Enhancements. Great article shows North Carolina Restoration of Railroad Stations. They need to see the Flora Depot in Illinois. There is also a good article about Storm Water Management and how trails can be a part of this aspect of community design.
February 16 – Forwarded a request for information on bike trails in Peoria to George Burrier & Mike Rucker.
February 16 – Composed and mailed a letter to Jean Collins regarding her problems aboard METRA. She was not aware of problems experienced by cyclists transporting their bikes on METRA. Mike Incorpero shared his difficulties as well. It is so important that we all share experiences so we can have a better understanding when problems arise between user groups. Bev suggested that ITC is mainly concerned with trail issues.
February 20 – Received a DOT Legislative Update. An item of concern is the dispersion of Enhancement Funds to numerous agencies. Less money will be available for Trails when they distribute funds for everything.
February 29 – Bev organized a group ride on the West Orange Trail in Winter Garden, Florida.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU IN 2008:
March 1 – GRANT DEADLINE FOR RTP APPLICATIONS – http://www.dnr.state.il.us/ocd/gaoutnew.htm
March 1 – HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM SUBMITTALS at http://www.dot.state.il.us/illinoisCHSP/hsip.html CLICK ON BLUE TO TAKE YOU TO THAT SITE.
March 6 – Skokie Valley Trail Public Meeting at Wilmette City Hall from 7-8:30 p.m.
March 6 – TRAIL NET Kick-Off Event at the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis. 12:30-4:30 p.m.
March 18 – Midewin Tall Grass Prairie Alliance Native Plant sale fundraiser. www.fs.fed.us/mntp for information.
March 29 - Boone County Conservation Dist. 1st Annual Green Ball @Bel-Mar Country Club. 815-547-7935 for more.
March 29 & 30, 2008 - CHICAGO BIKE SHOW at Donald E. Stephens Convenstion Center in Rosemont.
April 12 – LONG PRAIRIE TRAIL CLEANUP – MEET IN POPLAR GROVE AT 8:30 A.M.
April 12 – Clean-Up the Confluence along the Mississippi River. Contact Kevin @ kevinkeach@trailnet.org
April 17 – Earth Day in the Parks events sponsored by IDNR. See IDNR Web site for information.
April 18 – Deadline for submitting proposals for American Trails Symposium in Little Rock.
April 26 - EARTH DAY at Boone County Conservation District - 1:00-4:00 p.m.
April 26 – ILLINOIS PRAIRIE PATH CLEAN UP. SAVE THE DAY TO CLEAN A TRAIL.
June 15 - 21 - GITAP - Grand Illinois Trail and Parks Ride sponsored by LIB & IDNR. Ride begins & ends in Dixon.
August 16-23 - Lincoln Trail Bike Ride from Kentucky to Springfield, Illinois. Call Todd Volker at 815-431-1999.
August 23 – Kishwalk Fundraiser for Riverfront Trail in Belvidere
September 26 - Scientific Symposium on the state of Illinois' natural resources
September 27 - Natural History Survey Expo - Visit http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/150/index.html for information.
November 15-18 - 2008 NATIONAL TRAILS SYMPOSIUM IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS. Theme is Innovative Trails: Transforming the American Way of Life. See www.AmericanTrails.org/2008 for information.
CONTACT ILLINOIS TRAILS CONSERVANCY at www.ILLTrails.com & do not hesitate to contact Bev about anything mentioned in TRAIL NEWS. E-Mail her at ITC bebomoore@aol.com for info. Postal address for Illinois Trails Conservancy is P.O. Box 10, Capron, IL. 61012. Bev is in Florida from January 15 through March 20. Cell phone is 815-289-1024.