Lemont Receives $568K State Grant For Trail Project

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The Village of Lemont will receive state funding for a trail project as part of the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grants announced on Wednesday.

The project is located along Derby Road from Pine Needles Drive to 131st Street and along 131st Street from Derby Road to Bell Road, according to IDOT, which administers the grants.

The Village will receive $568,552 for the construction of the 1.84-mile long, 10-foot wide multi-use path.

Village Manage George Schafer said the Village was "very excited" to hear the news.

"This is to construct a bi-directional multi-use path on 131st Street from Derby to Bell Road," Schafer said. "131st Street is without any pedestrian accommodations currently, and it has been in our plans for years to safely connect our residents in these areas with the rest of our network."

Schafer said the project is complex, and the Village is making progress through phase 1 engineering. The Village has also secured federal surface transportation dollars for future engineering phases and construction of the improvement.

"This state funding will help bring this project closer to reality, and we are appreciative that they recognized it as such a significant project," Schafer said.

The Lemont project is among 66 awarded across the state, totaling $139.2 million in funding. The Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program has a goal of expanding local travel options and enhancing quality of life, according to IDOT. The list of awarded projects was announced on Wednesday.

“The Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program is a crucial part of Rebuild Illinois, helping make travel safer and more accessible in the communities that need it most,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a release. “Today, I’m proud to announce the largest investment in the program’s history, with more than $139 million going toward bike lanes, sidewalks, trails and other local improvements. This is just one part of the state’s larger effort to reverse decades of disinvestment and create more connected communities.”

The 66 projects approved through ITEP include bike and pedestrian paths and trails, street scape beautification and other projects designed to encourage safe travel across various modes of transportation at the local level, according to a release.

Made possible by federal and state funds administered by IDOT, ITEP awards are focused on improving bike and pedestrian travel, as well as making other surface transportation improvements that promote a variety of options for getting around communities, a release states.

The department received 233 applications for projects worth an estimated $383 million for the latest funding cycle, IDOT said. The next call for projects will be in 2026.