GOVERNOR AWARDS $179,500 BIKE PATH GRANT TO CITY OF NORTHLAKE

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. George H. Ryan today awarded a $179,500 grant to the City of Northlake to develop a bicycle path along Addison Creek.

"This grant will help provide an important transportation link in the community and countless hours of family-oriented outdoor recreation for neighboring residents," Ryan said.

The City of Northlake will construct the new 0.9-mile trail along the west side of Addison Creek from the intersection of Country Club Drive and Wolf Road north to Fullerton Avenue, providing a new link between Grant Park and Jerome Park. The project also includes a bridge across Addison Creek along with landscaping, signs and bicycle racks.

The Northlake project is among 29 community bicycle path grant projects awarded in Fiscal Year 1999 totaling $4.1 million. These projects add or improved more than 47 miles of bicycle paths.

More than 500 miles of trails have been funded since the inception of the state bicycle grant program in 1989.

Bicycle path grants are available to any local government having statutory authority to acquire and develop land for public recreation. Grants are funded from a portion of motor vehicle title transfer fees and provide up to 50 percent of a projects total cost. Grants to develop projects are limited to $200,000. There is no cap for acquisition projects.

Additional information about the program is available from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Grant Administration, 524 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62701-1787, or by calling 217/782-7481.