Daily Archives: September 20, 2011

Kellar Branch, Peoria Park District

Exploring the new Kellar Trail (UPDATED)

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My dad and I rode our bikes from Alta to downtown on as much of the vaunted new Kellar trail as we could find. Getting from Alta to Pioneer Parkway was easy enough. Then we followed the blacktop sidewalk/trail to Sommer street, and rode down to Candletree. There we got a little confused, as there’s a green sign that says “Bike Route” with an arrow pointing to the right. However, the Kellar trail actually continues to the left.

Once we got that figured out, we were able to ride down to the intersection of Knoxville and Northmoor. There, we were unable to figure out where the trail went, so we followed the old rail corridor as best we could up to and across Knoxville where we found another paved portion of the trail — this one with a broken yellow line down the center. That took us as far as Glen Avenue, where the trail ended, never to be found again.

From there, we followed the old rail corridor to Prospect in Peoria Heights. After that, the corridor was choked with weeds (which is surprising since Peoria Heights made such a big stink about the condition of the corridor when the rail line was there), so we had to ride on streets parallel to the “trail.” Looking at the description of the Kellar trail that appeared in the Journal Star last November, it doesn’t look like any progress has been made since then. That’s also surprising, since I thought the Park District had sufficient grants to cover this rail-to-trail conversion — grants they were afraid of losing if they didn’t get used right away. Why is so much of the trail unfinished?

There were some other people on the trail between Alta and Peoria Heights. I counted 13. Given the hype of how popular this trail is supposed to be, and given the pavement markings creating lanes for traffic, I expected to see more people. I also expected to see more signs of commerce, since this trail is supposed to be an economic catalyst. It didn’t look like any of the people we passed had been shopping. I didn’t see any new commercial developments along the trail, either — no apartments or condos or McDonald’s.

As I encountered large and small gaps in the trail, I couldn’t help but wonder whatever happened to all those green signs demanding, “Build the Trail … NOW!” The project is incomplete, and there appears to be little or no progress, but we’re no longer hearing any angry demands to complete the project from the Friends of the Rock Island Trail or the other supporters. Perhaps the wanton destruction of a working rail line was success enough for them.

UPDATE: Mike Friberg, bike trail project manager for the Park District, explained the status of the project:

Just to let you know, the trail section from Northmoor to Candletree is actually still under the final phases of construction (the punchlist). We’re currently working with IDOT – our funding source- on the design for the trail section from Glen Ave. south to Springdale Cemetery. We’re still working on the temporary connection crossing Knoxville – that will go through Junction City and cross Knoxville at the Northmoor light. I fully agree that things are confusing right now, but give us a bit of time and we’ll get it worked out -the asphalt has barely cooled!

For current information (ok, yes, I need to update it more frequently!) you can look on the Park District’s main website and follow the links to the bike trail web page. I’m not sure on CJ’s restrictions on advertising here, so I’ll let you find the link on your own. [Here’s the link –C.J.] I also have a FAQ discussing some of the questions you raise above.

If anyone has any questions on the trail that the FAQ doesn’t address, or you just want to send fan mail, please feel free to contact me – my contact information is at the bottom of the bike trail page. Thanks!

My thanks to Mike for the additional information. Here is Mike’s contact info:

Mike Friberg
1314 N. Park Road
Peoria, IL 61604

(309) 686-3386
mfriberg@peoriaparks.org

City of Peoria, Peoria County, State Legislation, State of Illinois

Smoking prohibited

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This week’s Word on the Street column reports that the City and County have been doing smoking ban stings lately: “The county performed 203 compliance checks and wrote 45 tickets. The city performed 123 checks and wrote eight tickets.” And, “The effort was funded by a [$15,000] grant the Peoria City/County Health Department received from the state Department of Public Health.”

Meanwhile, there’s a new documentary miniseries premiering in October on PBS about Prohibition. Promotional material for the new film by Ken Burns describes the Prohibition era: “The culmination of nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve, even to ennoble, the lives of all Americans, to protect individuals, families, and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse…. Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system … permitted government officials to bend and sometimes even break the law, and fostered cynicism and hypocrisy that corroded the social contract all across the country…. The film raises vital questions that are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago – about means and ends, individual rights and responsibilities, the proper role of government and finally, who is — and who is not — a real American.”

File the modern, popular smoking bans under the heading, “History Repeating Itself.”