South Park Kiosk

A $15,000 grant from the Marion Gardner Jackson Trust to build a trail head kiosk was awarded to Friends of the Trails last December 2001. The kiosk is located on the edge of South Park along RJ Peters Drive. A trail map, seating, bike rack and lighting is included as part of the kiosk.

The South Park location was selected for the first kiosk because of the existing trail within the Park and the recent addition of the 8 foot sidewalk connecting the trail to Cherry Lane. Friends of the Trails volunteers completed the connecting sidewalk in the Fall 2001.The kiosk was built by Friends of the Trails volunteers in the fall of 2002.

Safe Routes to School Success

Friends of the Trails has been working closey with the City of Quincy on getting funding for infrastructure improvements through the Safe Routes to School Program.  Recently, the City of Quincy was awarded approximately $456,139 from the National Safe Routes to School Program for infrastructure projects around the local area schools. Jennifer Sousa, CED Coordinator for the University of Illinois Extension said, “This is a great honor for our community, due to the fact the program is highly competitive for funding and it will allow students a safer means to get to and from school.” This is the second round of funding for the program and Quincy has been awarded funds through each cycle.

The first funding cycle the City received $322,345 for improvements along Monroe Elementary School. After receiving this funding, it prompted the State to find additional money to address the intersection on Payson Road and 36^th Street. The City has worked with the Adams County Highway Department in order to try and complete construction this summer. The second round of funding will take care of two needed projects in our community. The first project will be the widening of Columbus Road in front of St. Dominic’s School. The crosswalk for the school will be corrected and a sidewalk will be put in on the South side of the street. The second project addresses issues at Baldwin School which will call for a lane reduction between 30^th and 36^th on Maine. The project will address missing portions of sidewalk with in this area and will implement a full intersection at 33^rd and Maine. Both of these projects were submitted due to several safety concerns in these areas.

The Friends of the Trails has enjoyed working with the area schools and City in order to make these projects a reality through the Safe Routes to School Program in the State of Illinois. The projects have stemmed from the feedback received in several parental surveys at area schools and from student travel surveys that were collected this past spring. The City of Quincy hopes to have the projects completed within the next two years, pending the letting process for construction with the State.

Tour Quincy

The Friends of the Trails have been working in collaboration witht the Quincy Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau on making bike rentals available to tourists who visit the Quincy area.  The Quincy Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was able to secure funds to purchase two new trek lime automatic shift bicycles and a tandem bike for their rental program along with several helmets and bike locks.  The bikes can be rented out from the Visitor’s Center during their regular operating hours.  The Lincoln Douglas Interpretive Center wil also receive two trek automatic shift bicycles for rental purposes since the Friends of the Trails received a generous donation from the Quincy Exchange Club recently.  The Tour Quincy Program would not have been made possible without the help of the Quincy Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and local Exchange Club.

Illinois Maine Street Grant

The Friends of the Trails received a $5,000 grant from the illinois Maine Street Program to be able to purchase bicycle racks for the Quincy community.  The organization was able to purchase around 30 hitch series bicycle racks with the funds and placed them along Maine Street and other public service locations.  This just gets us one step closer to making our community a bicycle friendly community.