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Homewood blazes trails with grants, development
plans
By Steve Buchtel
In late 2007, Homewood
turned its $7,000 bike plan into a federally funded grand slam worth
$114,000 for bike racks, a signed bicycle network, bicycle lanes
and a village bike map. The funding covers 80 percent of the $140,000
worth of improvements the village wants to make.
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Homewood has to cover the other 20 percent - about $26,000. Add
the $7,000 they spent on the bike plan, and you see that their $140,000
of bike-friendly improvements will cost them only $33,000 –
a return better than 4-1.
In the Southland, this stands out like a daisy in the desert. Lots
of towns think that all planning gets you is a baking recipe for
apple pie in the sky. “In a large bowl, mix millions of dollars
you have lying around....”
How did Homewood score so big right out of the gate?
Homewood hired the most experienced bike planning organization in
the region, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. From what the village
saw of our work to improve bicycling in the City of Chicago, directed
by a plan that we authored, they knew we could deliver a bicycle
plan scaled to their needs. And they were convinced that we could
help them tap into millions of dollars of transportation grants
to get that plan off the shelf and onto the streets.
Homewood now has the privilege to spend its grant on facilities
and improvements that in two years will make the village the most
bicycle friendly community in the Southland. Aside from bringing
esteem in our carbon-conscious, health-focused region, implementing
its bike plan makes Homewood more appealing to young families, who
are increasingly fond of the bicycle mobility a city offers.
The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation believes every community in the
region stands to benefit from following Homewood’s lead. Since
Homewood showed the region how it’s done, five other communities
have hired us to develop their bike plans: Lan-Oak Park District,
Oak Park, Elgin, and the City of Crown Point, Ind. Bike planning’s
a whole new ballgame.
Give us a call if you’d like in.
Stev Buchtel is the Southland Coordinator for the Chicagoland
Bicycle Federation.
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