BENTON, IL (WSIL) -- The City of Benton held an open house Tuesday to invite people from the city to hear about a proposal for new Bike Paths coming to town.
"It's about hearing from residents where they would like to Bike to in the future," said Stephen Ibendahi, project manager for Bicycle Bike Paths.
Tuesday's Open house was a key step in helping the planning committee for a proposed Bike path through Benton.
“Meetings like this are really crucial because you get those 1 on 1 with residents," said Ibendahi. "You want to hear some of the nuances like being able to point to a map."
With the input from the open house as well as surveys those on the planning committee believe they have a good idea of what the people want to see when it comes to a future bike path
"What we're seeing a lot of is a desire to connect the trails that are around Rend Lake," said Ibendahi. "So I think folks want to connect downtown and Benton in general to the existing trail system."
Shane Martin lives in Benton and he says one of the best parts about the idea is developing a path that leads from Rend Lake to the city.
"I love it, especially if we can connect the Rend Lake Trail into a trail down 37 that's safe or somewhere to connect to downtown," said Martin. "That would be awesome."
The project is still in its early states and sometime in spring, xxxx says the project committee will hold another open house to lay out their exact recommendations as far as where these paths should go.
"We've heard from our discussions and other discussions about kids being able to bike to school, folks being able to bike to the square so folks want to have options besides driving to be able to get around town," said Ibendahi.
Martin is in favor of the proposals as he sees it as a great way to get kids out of the house and be more active.
"I'm a proponent of getting kids out of the house," said Martin. "They sit there like this all day long. it gets them out, doing something."
Those on the planning committee were also interested in hearing concerns from the people in Benton. Concerns like those Gerald Pyron brought up. He's an avid bike rider but wants to make sure safety is a priority when it comes to selecting the right destination.
"My concern is, hooking on to the paths that are already established and getting them to the park or uptown," said Pyron. "That's my concern. Getting a route, a safe route. "
And those on the planning committee say that type of feedback is crucial to the future development of the bike path.
"It's a very long process and we want to make sure we hear from folks in terms of their priorities and also their concerns," said Ibendahi. "I think people are excited about seeing the plans come together and the ideas in the future."
