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Illinois Route 66 bicycle route

The Pontiac (Ill.) Daily Leader reports a draft of a 368-mile Route 66 bike route through Illinois has been developed, with much of the "main route" not actually on the historic highway.

Options for advanced cyclists, however, provide much more of the route on Route 66 throughout the state.

A "cue sheet" for guiding riders on the Chicago-to-Mississippi River trail in Illinois lists the options for advanced riders, with warnings such as that those sections of 66 are "busier" or "much busier" with motor-vehicle traffic than the roads on the main route in that particular area. The trail is intended for riders of varying abilities.

Much of the route in Madison County uses Madison County Transit trails or connecting bike lanes, which probably isn't a bad idea, given Illinois 157 and Chain of Rocks Road -- an old alignment of Route 66 -- are busy roads.

Ed Barsotti, executive director of the League of Illinois Bicyclists, said comments and suggestions for the route, including revisions to it, will be accepted until mid-February. LIB has posted a 9-page PDF map of the route on its Web site.

A tip of the bicycle helmet to Ron Warnick's Route 66 News blog for altering me to this item. Ron was a copy desk colleague of mine at the Belleville News-Democrat for many years, and his site is a great clearinghouse for news on the Mother Road.

Roger 0 comments 12:37 PM