Active Transportation Plans

In 2017, Glencoe School District, Park District, Sustainability Task Force, and Village officials came together to create a long-term vision for increasing the number of local trips taken via walking and biking. This plan summarizes the vision, strategies, goals, and priorities outlined by the agencies and by residents that provided feedback during the planning process.

Villa Park’s Active Transportation Plan focuses on three goals to make the community even more walkable and bikeable than it is today – creating better connections between its existing trails, improving sidewalks and intersections for pedestrians, and developing a bicycle network with a focus on north/south connections.

The Brookfield Active Transportation Plan provides a long-range vision for the Village to improve bicycle and pedestrian connections to local destinations, like the Brookfield Zoo and its three Metra Stations. The plan also provides strategies for improving its difficult 6- and 8-corner intersections.

Summit’s Active Transportation Plan included recommendations from Village residents on ways to improve its trail system, street crossings, and sidewalks.

The Richton Park Active Transportation plan built on the Village’s existing bike network, Comprehensive Plan, and plans to redevelop of its Town Center to identify a comprehensive Village-wide bicycle and pedestrian network. Key recommendations include ways to improve access to the Old Plank Trail, opportunities for improving pedestrian bicycle safety along Sauk Trail and Cicero, and detailed diagrams for intersection improvements.

The Lynwood Active Transportation Plan blends infrastructure, policy, and program recommendations improvements for existing roadways and considers ways to connect active transportation users to the Village’s future downtown. The plan also recommends strategies to augment Thorn Creek Trail crossings.

The Melrose Park Active Transportation Plan, in partnership with Triton College, was completed through the Healthy HotSpot Technical Assistance Program. The plan helped guide future bike network connections to an important regional project: the North Avenue sidepath. The plan also included an innovative process to prioritize recommendations based on a GIS spatial analysis that considered and weighted equity, destinations, safety, community engagement and feasibility.

The Southwest Council of Mayors Regional Bikeways Plan updates its 1997 Regional Bikeways Plan. The Plan sets network location priorities to serve key regional destinations. This method of network creation is unique in that instead of prioritizing “bicycle friendly” roads, the Plan takes the approach that bicycling is a viable transportation option that will grow in popularity if potential riders are given efficient and safe routes to bicycle to regular destinations.

The West Central Municipal Conference Active Transportation Plan defines regional corridors that would facilitate bicycling as a transportation option. The planning process included a unique approach to garnering public input that utilized Google Maps and Google Street View. Residents were asked to take a virtual tour of the proposed routes to provide feedback on which areas were the most important to them.

Oak Park’s Neighborhood Greenways System Study & Bike Share Feasibility Study is an addendum to its 2008 village-wide bike plan. It includes an innovative study that provides recommendations to calm traffic on neighborhood streets, prioritize non-motorized travel, and identify locations for bikeshare stations.

Winfield’s Bike Plan was developed through a two-phase planning process. The plan started with a map of routes developed by the Winfield Bikeways Planning Group. Following that effort, Active Trans created a full bike plan and a project cost estimate tool.

Nearly 250 community members, including residents, business owners, elected officials, representatives from the schools, park districts, bike clubs and community organizations provided feedback that helped shaped this plan, which includes policies, programs, and infrastructure improvements to increase walking and biking trips in Wheeling.

Wheaton’s Bicycle Plan was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The plan includes an analysis that quantifies the value of bicycling and its benefits for the community by looking at the projected reduction in Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as residents substitute trips taken by car for trips taken by bicycle.

Wayne Township is one of the first townships to develop a Bicycle Plan. The Plan was conceived in order to provide better connectivity from residential areas to the regional trail system. The Plan’s implementation strategy focuses on multi-jurisdictional partnerships.

Tinley Park’s Active Transportation Plan focuses on creating a sustainable network of bicycle facilities that benefit pedestrians and cyclists. The plan served as an update to the Village’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan.

Lowell’s Bike Plan focuses on creating routes to local destinations and installing bike facilities that connect to the larger regional network. After adopting its plan, Lowell became the first community in northwest Indiana to create and adopt a Complete Streets policy.

Bensenville’s plan was funded through an American Planning Association (APA) Plan4Health grant and was developed in partnership with the DuPage County Department of Public Health and B-Well Bensenville Coalition. The plan recommends using a health and demographic equity analysis to prioritize project implementation.

Riverdale’s Active Transportation Plan is composed of improvements to the physical infrastructure, policies, and programs that make it safer and more convenient for people to walk, bike, and use transit in Riverdale.

Blue Island’s Active Transportation Plan involved a robust public input processes. The result is a plan that addresses residents’ desire to have “doorstep to trailhead” access to the planned Cal-Sag Trail for pedestrians and cyclists.

Chicago Heights partnered with a local non-profit, the Prevention Partnership, to create its Active Transportation Plan. The plan won an American Planning Association (APA) Illinois Chapter Award for Implementation.

Countryside’s Active Transportation Plan focuses on creating connections to the extensive regional trail system made up by the Centennial Trail, Route 66 Bike Trail, Salt Creek Trail, and I&M Canal Trail and improvement of its sidewalk network.

Des Plaines’s Active Transportation Plan presents a vision and a roadmap for achieving a healthy, balanced lifestyle for Des Plaines residents. The plan includes recommendations for short-term projects, like way-finding signage, and long-term projects that will enhance the connectivity of the regional bike network.

Forest Park’s Active Transportation Plan focuses on building bicycle and pedestrian connections from the north to south sides of the community across the Eisenhower Expressway. The plan was created in tandem with the Village’s Complete Streets policy and School Travel Plan.

Lemont’s Active Transportation Plan was one element in a larger obesity-prevention initiative funded by the Cook County Department of Public Health. A key component of the plan was to engage stakeholders in a process designed to ensure long-term community buy-in.

Midlothian’s Active Transportation Plan recommendations were formed by public input from a resident survey, a public meeting, and a stakeholder steering committee. Administrators from the local high school participated in the steering committee, and as a result, over 200 students gave input in the plan. The public meeting drew large crowds of both adults and children.