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County's trail system is something to be proud of

Illinois state Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, recently wrote a guest column for the Suburban Journals in Collinsville and Edwardsville in which he says some of the finest bicycle trails in the world can be found in Madison County.

Here's a snipet from the column:

The Madison County Transit District started the "rail to trails" program in the early 1990s to preserve urban rail corridors for trail use, among other things. Currently, there are 85 miles of scenic bikeways in Madison County that take riders through various natural areas such as woods, across fields, over creeks and along the Mississippi River.

MCT is one of the only transit systems in the nation with an integrated transportation system that links our bikeways with the bus system, creating a multi-level alternative to driving.

Haine deserves a lot of the credit for laying the groundwork for the bicycle trails. Haine served as chairman of the Madison County Transit District Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1988 while serving on the Madison County Board.

The state created transit districts in Madison and St. Clair counties to allocate sales tax revenue and money other taxes for mass transit. While St. Clair County determined that a more traditional arrangment with Metro (formerly known as the Bi-State Development Agency) to provide bus and light-rail service to its citizens was best, Madison County decided to go a different route.

Haine and his board at the time determined traditional bus service did not work very well in Madison County, partly because there's considerable distance among the county's major population centers. Under Haine's leadership, MCT greatly reduced its ties with Metro and created its own mass transit system that could serve the citizens of the county with more flexibility.

That move helped lay the groundwork for the 85 miles of bicycle trails MCT now maintains. Instead of pouring money into Metro, MCT could put aside some money to develop trails, the first being the Nature Trail that now links Edwardsville and the city of Madison.

Madison County has numerous miles of abandoned railroad rights of way dating from the days when there were many railroads going from St. Louis to Chicago, Springfield, Decatur and other Illinois communities. MCT Executive Director Jerry Kane and his staff have done a masterful job of getting state and federal grants to obtain those rights of way and develop the trail system.

While it is possible some of those rights of way could be used for an extension of the MetroLink light-rail system into Madison County, there will be plenty of trails of bicyclists and pedestrians to use for years to come.

People who use the MCT trail system should thank Sen. Haine and the MCT board for having the foresight to create a new model for mass transit that made the trail system possible.

Roger 0 comments 10:15 AM