Page 34 - The Indian EYE 051322

NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MAY 13, 2022 | The Indian Eye 34

Voters Slam Governor, Mayor for Wanting to Spend

$15 Million to Endanger Bicyclists & Pedestrians

HILLSIDE, IL

oters are outraged that Illi-
nois Governor JB Pritzker and
VHillside Mayor Joe Tamburino
want to spend about $15 million state
taxes to make the Illinois Prairie Path
more dangerous for bicyclists and
pedestrians than it is today! Instead,
voters want far safer and less cost-
ly solutions to fix the Path, possibly
saving Illinois taxpayers $14 million.
Read the Hillside Neighbors “Prairie
Path Plan” at www.hillsideneighbors.
com.
Also, voters want Pritzker to
build a Prairie Path bridge over
Mannheim Rd. at Warren Ave. be-
tween Hillside and Bellwood for
maximum safety. Other villages have
built bridges like this over busy roads
for pathways. To pay for the bridge,
voters want Pritzker to shut down a
controversial state project in Hillside
that was never built and reassign its
$2 million state grant.

The Illinois Prairie Path was cre-
ated in 1963 as the first rails- tation Department’s requirement
to-trails conversion in North to hold a public hearing before
IDOT issues a grant for their pro-
America. A recreational path for posed project. In May 2021, Pritz-

walking and bicycling, the Path ker pledged a $17 million grant for
Path improvements and for other
extends 60 miles from Maywood work on Butterfield Rd. in Hillside.
(east) to Geneva (west.) Where After this grant was allocated, Pritz-
ker and Tamburino changed their
the Path crosses Mannheim Rd. Prairie Path plan without holding

at either the Mannheim Rd./ any public meeting. When voters
contacted IDOT and demanded a
Washington St. or Mannheim public meeting, IDOT said no.
Hillside Neighbors also wants a
Rd./Madison St. intersections, Prairie Path bridge over Mannheim
users face dangerous, fast-mov- Rd. They’re asking Pritzker to re-

ing trucks and vehicles turning assign a $2 million state grant away
from one of the most dangerous
from all directions. proposals in Illinois history: Build-
ing a 1,000-foot-long recreational
bridge over 9 lanes of Eisenhower
The Hillside Neighbors plan Expressway traffic in Hillside, with
solves the Mannheim danger by put- the bridge running along Mannheim
ting traffic signals at the T-intersec- By contrast, Pritzker and Tam- ways and make the Path longer than Rd. Tamburino told the Chicago Tri-
tion of Mannheim Rd./Warren Ave. burino want to rip the Path off it is today. For everyone taking the bune that the bridge would be built
and allow Path users to cross Mann- Warren, construct almost a mile of Path - - especially seniors, children in 2019, but nothing has happened.
heim without dangerous left turns costly new pathways, purchase and and people with disabilities - - these Now, Pritzker must terminate this
or right turns coming at them. Their demolish private buildings, force changes would make the Path far dangerous project and reassign the
plan also shortens the Path by keep- Path users across dangerous Mann- more dangerous than it is today. $2 million grant to a Prairie Path
ing it on Warren Ave. in Hillside, heim Rd. intersections, force users Plus, Pritzker and Tamburino bridge over Mannheim Rd.
which is a mostly residential street. across 13 dangerous business drive- are violating the Illinois Transpor- --Asian Media USA

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