Plans

The bikeways and trails that criss-cross DuPage County form a complex, multi-jurisdictional network that is ever-evolving.  Today's network did not develop by accident, though.  Trail placement is carefully considered through multiple iterations of planning processes.  Public agencies like the County engage with stakeholders to ensure that desired connections are identified, analyzed, and vetted before committing trail routes to planning documents.  This is how regional trails and local bikeway networks develop into planned trails--shared ideas of where a trail or bikeway should be--which can then be translated into actionable future projects for engineering and construction.

Below are some recent and ongoing trail plans in which the Division of Transportation has served as the lead or as a partner agency.

Ongoing Planning Projects

DuPage Trails Plan - click the link for the project page!

East Branch DuPage River Trail - click the link for the project page, or view ours to learn more information.

Recently Completed Planning Projects

Elmhurst Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan - 2021

Lisle Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Update - 2021

DuPage Forest Preserve Master Plan - 2019

Villa Park Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan - 2018

Elgin-O'Hare Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan - 2017

Complete Streets Policy

The Division of Transportation is committed to providing multimodal transportation options along the County's roadway network.  In accordance with the County's complete streets policy, known as the Healthy Roads Initiative, DuDOT will construct bikeways and sidewalks along County roadways wherever it is determined to be safe, cost effective, and feasible.

The Healthy Roads Initiative was passed by the DuPage County Board in 2004.  The Initiative directs DuDOT to ensure that transportation projects create safe facilities for both motorists and non-motorists.  Among the list of network improvements that the Division of Transportation is directed to implement, the resolution recommends sidewalks and multi-use paths where safe, feasible, and cost-effective.  In 2008, the County Board passed an amendment to the Healthy Roads Initiative that directs the Division of Transportation to consider on-road accommodations for bicyclists in locations where off-road facilities are not practicable.

History

Trail planning in DuPage was an outgrowth of open space planning, fueled by the public's desire to link communities, greenways, and recreational facilities with transportation corridors.  The County has taken an active role in planning future bikeway and trail corridors throughout the years, and seeks partnerships to plan for regional trail corridors that cross multiple jurisdictions.  Municipalities, park districts, the Forest Preserve, and other counties are just some of the types of agencies that have partnered with DuPage to produce plans for future trails.

The first regional bike plan for DuPage was adopted in 1984.  That first edition of the DuPage County Regional Bike Plan identified four overarching goals:

• To recognize the bicycle as a mode of transportation;

• To develop a bicycle transportation network;

• To provide safe, efficient, and coordinated regional movements; overcome barriers; and

• To encourage interagency coordination; connect local trails into larger network.

Successive updates have kept in line with those four goals.  The most recent planning document, the 2008 DuPage County Regional Bikeway Plan, was created through a partnership between the DuPage County Board and the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference (DMMC).  Key stakeholders in the planning process included municipalities, park districts, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, the DuPage County Division of Transportation, townships, and the public.  Successive updates have been published and circulated as maps for navigational and planning purposes.

Download the 2014 DuPage County Regional Bikeway Map

Contact

To inquire about any of the bicycle and pedestrian plans in which DuPage County is a partner, contact the DuPage County Division of Transportation Trails Coordinator at TrailPathCoordinator@dupageco.org or call (630) 407-6900.