New $1.2 million MetroBikeLink trail opens in Fairview Heights

St. Clair County Transit District officially opened the Liberty Heights Trail, the newest segment in the MetroBikeLink system.

The trail spans three-quarters of a mile and cost $1.2 million. Construction was managed by Stutz Excavating after an impact and feasibility survey from TWM Inc.

A major consideration in expanding the trail, said Ken Sharkey, managing director of the St. Clair County Transit District, is safety. The trail is fully paved for accessibility, with five cameras installed along its length and multiple wayfinding stations to help travelers orient themselves if they get lost.

“We’re committed to improving our multi-modal forms of transportation in St. Clair County,” Sharkey said at the opening on Thursday. “We look forward to moving forward with this project in the future and working with other agencies to improve access in our communities.”

Construction on the MetroBikeLink system has continued throughout 2025. In June, a $3 million grant was approved to build a bike bridge over I-64, and this past spring saw the completion of a portion of the Tecklenburg Trail.

Fairview Heights also announced the “Field House,” a multi-purpose sports and event space that will sit next to the Rec Center, where the new arm of the system will terminate.

The Liberty Heights Tail is one of seven segments that make up St. Clair County’s plan to extend the MetroBikeLink system by 4.8-miles to connect Illinois 161 in Belleville to the Fairview Heights Rec Center. It is part of the county’s plan to increase the MetroBikeLink trail, the “spine” of the MetroBikeLink multi-trail system.

This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM.