ROCHELLE — If everything goes according to plan, the current Rochelle bike path should be lengthened and strengthened by the end of this year, if not next.
According to Don Elliott, the Superintendent of Parks and Facilities, the Flagg-Rochelle Park District is currently involved in two bike path projects. The first is to extend the current path about 9,500 feet west of Squires Landing on 20th Street. The second is to maintain the existing bike path, which runs from Atwood Park in a northward loop and follows the creek around to Teen Town.
Elliott said construction work for the extension project, which has been ongoing for several years with grant writing and land acquisition, began last fall with the installation of a bridge over a nearby creek. Depending on the weather, he said it should hopefully be concluded by the end of May or the first part of June.
“The goal was to get the rock base in before winter set in,” he said, adding that before the recent rains, the project “has been moving forward relatively well.”

Martin and Company Excavating has been performing the work.
Part of the extension is being funded by a $475,000 federal and state grant with the park district making up the difference of the project, which he said could end up costing approximately $800,000.
Elliott said the money has been budgeted for the project.
The extension is just part of the park district’s long range plan which calls for expanding the bike path to several locations outside of Rochelle, including west to Skare Park, south to Lake Sule and east to Creston. Any future projects, of course, depend on several factors, including the availability of grants.
The second project, maintaining the existing three-and-a-half mile path, is still under the designing phase and should include blacktopping over the existing asphalt, filling in cracks, striping, stabilizing the bank and working on drainage. The wooden benches will also be replaced so they all have the same look.
Elliott said the estimated cost for the maintenance project is $540,000.
“Hopefully, bids will come in under that,” he joked.
Depending on the bids, Elliott said the project should be finished either by the end of this year or it may have to be phased out and finished next year.