A 9.1-mile stretch of the Route 66 Bike Trail in McLean County no longer has backing from a Department of Transportation [DOT] grant.
The DOT sent a letter to Cathy Dreyer, McLean County assistant administrator, on Sept. 9 explained the project — which was approved for federal funding in June 2024 — no longer aligns with department priorities.
It would extend the trail from near Towanda north of Bloomington-Normal to the Livingston County line near Chenoa.
One priority cited in the letter was multimodal grant programs on projects that promote vehicular travel. The other priority was “ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently in ways that maximally benefit the American people and improve their quality of life.”
The grant awarded $675,000 to plan and design the final nine miles of the 47.2 miles of trail that span southwest and northern McLean County. A mix of on and off-road trails exist across Illinois from Chicago to East St. Louis. The McLean County portions are designated sections of Constitution Trail.
“This decision is a serious setback,” said Lea Cline, a Democrat who chairs the county board's Land Use and Transportation Committee. Cline also represents McLean County District 8 that includes much of central and west Bloomington.
“It is not just about recreation and tourism, it is about safety, economic development and quality of life," said Cline, adding there were six serious crashes between 2018 and 2023 along bike trail extensions near Towanda, including one death.
“These are not isolated events, and separated paths like this one are proven to save lives at the same time,” said Cline.
Construction of a 4.5-mile stretch of trail between Funks Grove and McLean is still ongoing. Once that is completed, the Towanda-to-Chenoa stretch would be the last portion of trail disconnected from the rest of the county.
“If we keep looking for grant opportunities to finish those last nine miles, it will fully connect the 47-mile trail through McLean County,” said Dreyer, who has worked to submit grants for the bike trail project over the past three years.
Cline said outreach is only just beginning, given the letter was received just days prior.
“I know there's a really robust cycling group in our county, there are lots of people who are really big fans of Route 66 and so we hope that we can get a little bit more attention on the problem,” said Cline. “It's brand new to us, but we're no no less committed to the project than we were three days ago.”
Friends of the Constitution Trail issued a statement that they are "extremely disappointed" by the DOT's recission.
"Over the past 20 years, there has been wide, bipartisan, local, state and federal support for the phased development of McLean County's Historic Route 66 Trail project along the National Scenic Byway," said group president Patrick Dullard, adding the trail brings "safety, economic and quality-of-life impacts for our residents, youth and tourists alike."
Dullarc called on Congressman Darin LaHood to continue his long-stated support for this project by identifying alternative federal funding through use of community project dollars under his control, for this project.
Dullard also urged state officials and legislators along the Trail corridor to support funding the final segments of this regional project through the recent IDOT Local Projects Initiative application or other means.
