We're Getting There

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Pimiteoui Trail through Peoria nearing completion

Bonnie Noble is looking forward to sleeping more restfully.

The executive director of the Peoria Park District for 20 years, Noble said she stays awake when she lets herself think about the growing Rock Island-Pimiteoui Trail that wends its way through the city.

It's all because of one spot in the trail — where it crosses Knoxville Avenue, just south of its intersection with Prospect Road, at Junction City — that she doesn't believe is as safe as it could be.

"There is an awful lot of traffic that goes pretty darn fast around that curve and people really aren't looking for walkers or bikers to be crossing right there. We need to make it safe and family friendly. Right now, it isn't," Noble said.

That is soon to change. The state of Illinois has given the Park District a $3.75 million grant that will be used to design and build an underpass beneath Knoxville Avenue. That will enable trail users to cross there without worrying about traffic or cars that at times go through a red light coming around the curve heading south.

"It was either going to be an underpass or a bridge. We believe an underpass is the safest and better for walkers and bikers," she said.

Engineering work on the underpass has started and Noble believes construction can start yet this year. She doesn't expect the underpass to be completed and open until late 2013. "It will take a while to build this thing. It's a relatively big project. The underpass will be much longer than people might think, but we have to be careful of the grade going down in either direction. It has to be gradual," Noble said.

"I'm excited about it and I know people who use the trail will be, too. We might actually get this thing done," added Noble, who has been working on getting the trail completed since 1974, shortly after she moved to Peoria. "It will be one of the more unique points along the trail."

Much of the trail, nearly 13 miles of it under the Park District and stretching from the Bob Michel Bridge to where the Rock Island Trail is picked up by the state around Alta, is completed.

Also going on this summer will be work to complete the part of the trail from the Peoria Heights Public Library to Springdale Cemetery, a total of about a mile and a half. A state grant for that portion, $813,000, was released in January. It will entail grading, repairing drainage and blacktopping.

Once that and the Knoxville underpass are completed, the trail will be finished. At least the Peoria part of it.

"I sometimes can't believe we're getting so close now. We've been working on it so long," she said.

Work began in earnest in 1994 and included acquiring the right of way for the trail, which wasn't always a smooth proposition. And as time went on the cost of materials and labor went up.

By the time all is done, the Peoria portion of the trail will have cost an estimated $9.75 million. Fortunately for the Park District and thus, local taxpayers, the bulk of the costs were paid through federal and state grants. "We've been lucky in that regard but still it has been much more expensive than we originally estimated because it took so long to get it done," Noble said.

There were other, more expensive passages besides the Knoxville underpass that were done for public safety. The largest was the tunnel that takes the trail beneath the U.S. Route 6 bypass and connects it with Chanute Road and Alta.

Noble said there are concerns about the part of the trail where it crosses Allen Road in Alta, largely because of traffic snarls that have occurred there. The state plans to install a turnabout there to alleviate the traffic concerns.

"There people do need to be careful. It isn't the best place along the trail, but it isn't the worst, either," she said. "It shouldn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the trail.

"Really, there are a lot of unique areas, interesting things for trail users to see. Like when you go along the river from the Bob Michel Bridge, then through Springdale Cemetery. You know, including the Rock Island Trail, there are about 50 miles of trails just on the west side of the Illinois River, so there is a lot to see," Noble said.

She added it has been gratifying to see people enjoying the trail already this year, thanks to the unseasonably warm and mild winter. "You can tell people on the trail, whether they are walking, jogging, biking or walking their dogs, are enjoying themselves. That is so great," she said.

Asked if she can sleep better yet now that the Knoxville underpass is underway, Noble said not quite. "I will still lose sleep until it's done. But we're getting there."

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