On April 16, Gov. Pat Quinn, along with Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider, introduced the Illinois Bike Transportation Plan to the public. The plan provides policies an implementation process to the Illinois Department of Transportation, IDOT, to help create a more sustainable multi-modal transportation system across Illinois. 

The plan lays out over 200 suggestions and action items for IDOT to improve its capacity to accommodate Illinois cyclists in a cost-effective manner while improving their safety. The plan targets several topics to improve the existing transportation system, including facility design and maintenance, network gaps, grant funding programs, safety education and enforcement and internal governance and coordination. The plan also includes performance standards to measure the progress of implementation. 

“The Illinois Bike Transportation Plan is framed around five key principles: safety, connectivity, access, choice and collaboration,” said Schneider in a press release. “These principles helped guide the development of the plan and will be instrumental to implementation. The plan will ensure that Illinois remains a model of excellence in sustainable transportation.”  

In the same press release, Gov. Quinn expressed his optimism for the plan.

“The Illinois Bike Transportation Plan will help develop a safer and more efficient transportation system for everyone who rides a bike in our state,” Quinn said. “In Illinois, we pride ourselves on our 21st century transportation system, and this plan will guide our future work to expand access to this safe, cost-effective and green form of transportation.”

Project manager of the Illinois Bike Transportation Plan, Gabe Sulkes, said that the increase in communication between regions and organizations in Illinois introduced in the plan will benefit the transportation infrastructure in places like the University of Illinois. 

“The plan enhances coordination with municipalities, regional planning organizations and educational institutions across Illinois via the creation of an inter-agency bike/ped task force,” Sulkes said. “The plan also specifically incorporates feedback from Champaign County’s Regional Planning Commission and includes a section entirely devoted to prioritized network recommendations that will connect Champaign to communities such as Oak Park and Effingham via state roads.”

To create the plan, IDOT executed an outreach program to roughly 4,000 individuals across the state, as well as 50 non-profits, 60 local agencies and 11 educational institutions. According to Sulkes, the drafting process lasted about 16 months from start to finish. 

The University Police Department is already ahead of the curve when it comes to creating a safe multi-modal transportation system. University Police Department Deputy Chief Skip Frost said the University strives to be a leader in crafting new policies and campus police are already working on campus bicycle policies. 

“Anybody that has spent any time on this campus realizes that multi-modal is something that describes the campus,” Frost said. “We have to make sure that we’re pedestrian friendly, we have to make sure we’re bicycle friendly, and in the end we have to make sure that we can promote a safe and efficient flow of traffic no matter what mode of transportation someone uses.”

Joshua can be reached at [email protected].