Have Your Say About Plan For New Bike Lanes On Church Street Skokie

SKOKIE, IL — Community members will have an opportunity to provide input next week for final updates to a plan to add bike lanes to Church Street in Skokie.

A public open house meeting is planned for 5 to 7 p.m. on June 13 at the Weber Leisure Center's activity room, 9300 Weber Park Place. Attendees will get a chance to learn more about the project and provide feedback about the concept.

Village officials plan to add the new on-street lanes between Linder Avenue and McCormick Boulevard, providing contiguous on-way painted bike lane on both sides of Church Street.

The project is expected to be complete in 2025, connecting the North Shore Channel Trail to Skokie's westernmost boundary, according to village staff.

In addition to the bike lanes, the project is set to include improvements to pedestrian signals and wheelchair accessibility improvements at intersections. The lane configuration at Niles Center Road will also be revised, according to staff.

When Evanston officials added bike lanes to Church Street from Evanston Township High School to the city's border with Skokie, they initially planned to add unprotected on-street bike lanes — like the ones planned in Skokie. But after community members pushed for protected lanes, city planners built separated lanes.

Church Street west of Gross Point Road is under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Department of Transportation, or CCDOT. East of Gross Point Road, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation, or IDOT.

Once the project is complete, Skokie will have three main east-west bike lanes — Howard Street, Main Street and Church Street.

Village officials are also working with IDOT to add bike lanes to Gross Point Road between Old Orchard and Golf roads.

Also planned for next year, a multi-use side path along the south side of Old Orchard Road will complete the link between the Gross Point Road and the North Branch trail in the Cook County Forest Preserves, according to the village's bikeway system plan.

Related: New Bike Lanes, Path Extensions Planned For North Shore Suburbs