Work Begins on Active Transportation Plan to Promote Walking, Biking

The is seeking public input from walkers and bicyclists in the community as it embarks on its first Active Transportation Plan.

Earlier this year, the village to create safer, more convenient places for walking, biking and other physical activities. The money was awarded by the Cook County Department of Public Health and the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, which gave a total of $4 million to 41 agencies in suburban Cook County to promote health and wellness within their communities.

As part of the grant, the village has partnered with the Active Transportation Alliance, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that "works to improve conditions for bicycling, walking and transit and engage people in healthy and active ways to get around." The organization will work with village officials, the and Lemont schools to develop an Active Transportation Plan.

"We're very excited to get this process started," Village Planner Charity Jones said. "This is a great opportunity for us to evaluate our walking and biking paths, and to promote healthier living within the Lemont community."

Jones said in January that the grant would be put toward a number of initiatives, including an evaluation of the village's current transportation plan, installation of bicycle signage and incorporation of the Complete Streets policy into all road construction.

One of the grant's components was also to establish safe park zones, .

Work on the village's Active Transportation Plan will begin during a community workshop Tuesday, Sept. 27, which is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to noon at Village Hall, 418 Main St.

The meeting will be led by Mark Fenton, a national expert in walkability, public health and planning, and former host of America's Walking on PBS. Fenton will speak to the group about active transportation before taking them out into the community to survey current walking and biking routes.

Following the walkability audit, the group will return to Village Hall to look over maps and brainstorm ways to improve walking and biking in downtown Lemont.

"We do everything we can to help towns make it safer and more feasible for their residents to walk and bike around their communities," said Ethan Spotts, a spokesperson for Active Transportation Alliance. "Mark Fenton is a really dynamic, engaging guy, so we're looking forward to bringing him to Lemont to kick off their plan."

A second meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the , 16300 Alba St. That meeting will feature John Vande Velde, a U.S. Olympic and National Champion cyclist.

Planning experts will use feedback from the meetings, as well as their own observations and evaluations, to create a plan for the Village of Lemont, Spotts said.

The Active Transportation Alliance is working with several Illinois communities through Cook County's Model Communities program, which seeks to “align with the nationwide effort of developing local-level policy, system and environmental change that result in residents having increased access to healthy foods and having safe places to be physically active," according to the press release.

Grant funds will help promote breastfeeding, increase opportunities for physical activity in schools, add access to services for adults at-risk or with chronic conditions including obesity, and create more safe and convenient spaces for physical activities, among other initiatives.

“The allocation of these resources will serve as a catalyst for significant community-level change that will lead to a reduction in the incidence of chronic disease," CCDPH Chief Operating Officer Stephen A. Martin Jr. said in a press release issued in January. "It is one step in the fight to make healthier choices the easier choices for our residents.”