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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: John Russell, grant writer
DATE: Feb. 3, 2020
SUBJECT:
Requesting approval to apply for a Bicycle Path Grant Program grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, to create a Bike Repair Station along the Fox River Trail in Wilder Park.
PURPOSE:
The Mayor's Office of Economic Development seeking funding to build a Bike Repair Station in Wilder Park, about 100 yards from where the new Bike/Pedestrian Bridge will link to the western leg of the Fox River Trail. According to Ride Illinois, an estimated 80,000 bicyclists use the eastern and western legs of the Fox River Trail through Illinois each year. The Wilder Park Bike Repair Station will offer these cyclists the ability to make sure their bicycles are in safe riding condition as they make their way along the trail. The Bike Repair Station will feature a repair stand with tools, air pump, bike racks, benches and signage of the Fox River Trail and the connecting trails in the area.
BACKGROUND:
The Bike/Pedestrian Bridge is to be completed in Fall 2020. And an improvement project at Wilder Park, turning it from basically a passive park to a site where festivals and markets and other activities will be held regularly, will be completed in early 2021. The Bike Repair Station should be in place and ready for use in late Summer 2020, making it available use by the riders on the Fox River Trail and the bicyclists who will be joining in activities at the upgraded
Wilder Park. The City has worked diligently in recent years to build a robust bikeway network for recreational purposes and for use as an alternative to motor vehicles, to reduce environmental pollution, and to encourage a healthy lifestyle for our community. In 2016, the City dedicated "The Green Mile," a protected bike lane running through Aurora's downtown, which PeopleForBikes recognized as the 4th best bike lane in the nation. And in 2017, Aurora was awarded Bicycle Friendly Community Status from the ...
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