u/Legal_Kick_7698

Well, not a new path, but a dream of what a path could look like along Naperville Road. These are photos I took the other day and had a black asphalt path added in with ChatGPT.

Back story: Naperville is currently updating their Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. Late last year they asked for feedback for new proposed bike/walking routes. They have the funds to design and build new routes. I posted on this thread last year asking people their thoughts and submitted a proposed route on an interactive arcGIS map that the city had put up. The proposed route that I floated was to have the city create a paved path, like pictured, that would connect Ogden Road to Chicago/Maple Avenue. The path would run parallel to Naperville Road. There is an underpass under a section of BNSF railroad and under that underpass is existing sidewalk. Past the underpass going both directions the sidewalk ends. So the goal would be to add a path to connect to the main connecting roads I mentioned above. This proposed route idea that I submitted was the most liked route by other users who viewed the city’s online map.

The city of Naperville had a follow open house to share feasible routes from the submitted ideas. To my dismay, my route was not even up for consideration. The city cited lack of control of the existing infrastructure (the existing sidewalk segment) under the BNSF bridge. That right of way belongs to BNSF and they are apparantly a pain in the butt to work with. The existing sidewalk is just fine and I don’t get why the city thinks they need to change that. The city would only need to extend the path on in both directions past the underpass.

So, I would like to get input from the community now and potentially bring back public support to the city for a path project like this. The only way for community members to safely cross and get to Ogden or Maple Avenue is to walk/bike two miles to the next closest crossing. This would be a huge win for both Lisle and Naperville. Any thoughts?