West Belleville getting first bicycling and walking trail

The west end of Belleville in about a year should have its first bicycling and walking trail and a new traffic signal to allow pedestrians to cross the streets.

The project will be possible with the help of about $250,000 in state grants given to Signal Hill Elementary School to help encourage kids to walk or bike to school; $209,900 will go for the walking and bicycling path and $40,000 will go toward traffic controls.

In total, metro-east schools got $1 million of the $13.7 million the state awarded, and neither the schools nor their communities are required to contribute matching funds.

The west Belleville trail will run for about a quarter of a mile in an old railroad bed from Signal Hill Park to Foley Drive and will connect as many as five neighborhoods, Signal Hill Superintendent Suzette Lambert said, adding that it also will provide walking or biking students with access to Blessed Sacrament School.

"I think the entire west end community benefits from this," Lambert said.

The school has about a year to complete the trail. Belleville City Engineer Tim Gregowicz said the project is part of the city's master park plan. He said the city will work with Signal Hill and the Illinois Department of Transportation, which administers the grant funds, to complete the project.

The other local grants awarded are:

* John A. Renfro Elementary School in Collinsville: $250,000 for sidewalk improvements;

* Columbia Middle School, Parkview Elementary School and Immaculate Conception School: $70,000 to install new or improved signs;

* Freeburg Elementary School, Freeburg Primary Center and St. Joseph School: $245,000 for sidewalk improvements and new signs;

* Shiloh Elementary School, Whiteside Middle School and Shiloh Middle School: $253,750 for walking and bicycling paths, sidewalk improvements and to help teach pedestrian and bicycle safety skills.

The state received almost 200 applications and $27.9 million in requests, according to a news release from Gov. Pat Quinn's office. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration.

"This innovative program reaches out to our youth, instilling in them the healthy habits of physical activity," Quinn said in a press release. "With Illinois ranked fourth in the nation for childhood obesity rates, providing children with a safe and secure means of walking to school is an important tool to improve the health of our children."