February 24, 2025
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After bicycling accident, residents call for safer pathway along Cannonball Trail in Yorkville

City previously approved $8M project to connect then-subdivisions to bicycle pathway system

By Joey Weslo

Yorkville officials are considering constructing a bicycle and pedestrian pathway along Cannonball Trail to improve safety in the area. Pictured, the curve along Cannonball Trail north of Alice Avenue and west of Route 47. (Tony Scott)

After a resident complaint following a serious bicycle accident along Cannonball Trail in Yorkville, city officials are debating ways to make the area safer for pedestrians, including a potential mile-long pedestrian pathway.

City engineer Brad Sanderson said the project is feasible but comes with engineering hurdles, at the Public Works Committee meeting on Feb. 18. Sanderson said construction of a mile-long pedestrian path in the Cannonball Trail area could exacerbate drainage issues and must be navigated around the area’s plentiful trees.

The city must contend with the right away issues and will have to design the pathway to cross a large ditch in the area, he said, and things might get complicated considering a lot of the area is county land with only some of it being within city limits.

The committee discussed the future pedestrian pathway that will be constructed as part of the massive Route 47 expansion and widening project. The committee said a pedestrian pathway along Cannonball Trail could be a good connector between Route 47 and Route 24.

City administrator Bart Olson said during the meeting that planning for a potential pathway along Cannonball Trail provides the opportunity to examine the entire city’s pedestrian pathway system.

“Bike trails have not been on the City Council’s goal list in a few years,” Olson said. “You have a disjointed subdivision to connect into the wider trail system. There are also other areas (in the city) to consider than just this one area.”

In 2012, the city did a successful referendum for a bicycle path bond of around $8 million to connect every subdivision in town that wasn’t already connected to Route 47 with additional bicycle pathways.

With the city’s explosion in new construction and subdivisions, several locations throughout the city, especially along the city’s outer limits, are not currently connected to the overall bicycle pathway system.

The next steps for city officials is to conduct a cost estimate and feasibility study on the potential Cannonball Trail pathway.

The project is tentatively scheduled to come up for discussion again next month.