Wilmette officials unveiled plans for several miles of bike lanes and designated bike routes on the west side of the village at a public meeting Monday.
The new routes include accommodations for bicycles along Glenview Road, Wilmette Avenue and Ridge Road, thereby improving access for cyclists to business districts, schools and parks in those areas.
Changes to an east-west route used frequently by cyclists on Wilmette Avenue and Glenview Road starting at Ridge Road are a key part of the project. From Ridge Road west to the intersection of Crawford Avenue/Hunter Road, the plans call for a painted bike lane on each side of Wilmette Avenue and eliminating parking in that area. The bike lanes would then continue on Glenview Road to Skokie Highway with a painted 3-foot buffer lane separating the bike lanes from traffic lanes. At Skokie Highway, the designated bike lanes would end and on-street pavement markings, commonly called “sharrows,” would alert motorists that cyclists also frequently use that road. However, there would be a designated bike lane on the bridge across the Edens Expressway.
The improvements would end at the west village limits, just west of the Edens. The Village of Glenview bicycle and pedestrian plan adopted in 2023 calls from creating bike lanes along Glenview Road but no specific date has been set for that project.
In addition to the work on Wilmette Avenue/Glenview Road, Wilmette is also planning to add sharrows on Ridge Road through the length of the village, from Isabella Street north to Elmwood Avenue. Adding designated bike lanes on Ridge was not possible because of the narrow width of Ridge and the need to accommodate parking on the street, said Ron Milanesio, the project engineer for the village.
Plans for the improvements will be submitted to the Illinois Department of Transportation next year, Milanesio said. If approved, detailed engineering would follow with construction in 2030. Total estimated cost of the project is approximately $3 million.
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