Bartlett resident urges DuPage County to add Stearns Road bike trail, link to Western Access

Terry Witt, a bicycle rider from Bartlett, told the DuPage County Transportation Committee on April 1 that residents have waited years for a trail along Stearns Road to connect both halves of the community and link to a broader regional network.

Witt said the county and committee staff recently applied for a grant to build the Stearns Road trail and asked the committee to back extending a bicycle facility into Western Access, the Elgin–O’Hare Tollway project area. “With 15,000 people working in the airport, a lot coming probably from DuPage County, who will use that Western Access … if we had a bike trail that goes right into Western Access,” Witt said.

The appeal emphasized safety and commuting benefits: Witt asked that traffic signals with turn arrows be synchronized with walk signals to reduce the risk of collisions between turning vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists, especially children. “The most dangerous thing is for a right turner running over a kid because they don't see him coming,” Witt said.

Committee members did not take formal action on the request during the meeting. The comment entered the committee record and was delivered to members via the county’s public comment procedures; staff did not give a timeline for next steps or for the grant decision.

The request links local trail needs — a continuous Stearns Road route and access to regional bikeways such as the Elgin–O’Hare Bikeway — with a larger multimodal access discussion around the Western Access project. No county funding or design commitment was made at the meeting.

DuPage County rules require individual public remarks to be limited to three minutes and place an overall 30-minute cap on public comment; Witt spoke during that slot and his written comments were included in the meeting record.