Plainfield plans path for bikes, pedestrians along 143rd Street

The village of Plainfield is planning a path that could be used for cyclists as part of the 143rd Street expansion project.

The village on Jan. 30 unveiled plans for an approximately one half mile, 10-foot-wide multi-use path along the south side of 143rd Street between Wallin Drive and Van Dyke Road with city planners.

The goal of the project is to improve safety and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists along 143rd between Wallin Drive and Van Dyke Road, alleviate the gap between the Liberty Grove and Dayfield subdivisions, and allow access for bikers and walkers to the Plainfield PACE Park and Ride, according to the village.

The path is part of the 143rd Street Corridor project that was developed to ease traffic congestion on 135th Street and reduce commercial traffic in downtown Plainfield, a $100 million endeavor broken down into east and west sections.

A grant will fund 90% of the path project, which is estimated to cost about $700,000, the village said.

Senior Project Manager with RINA Luke Bolzenius, the project’s plan and design engineer, said, “This project takes narrow 5-foot sidewalks and replaces them and also fills in the gaps with a 10-foot-wide path.”

DNA Run Club’s Cathy Crawford, an avid runner and triathlete, said the addition of the multi-use path would allow residents to make their way to downtown Plainfield walking, running or cycling more safely.

Adding connector paths throughout the village is something Crawford, a Plainfield resident, hopes to see more of in the future.

Plainfield resident Eric Alexander, an avid cyclist and a member of the newly formed Plainfield Active Transportation Commission, whose mission is to improve public access to downtown Plainfield in a safe way, said, “We are trying to get families from different sections of the Village to get downtown.”

“There should be a way via a path to get to the downtown,” he added. This path, Alexander said would give access to the Plainfield PACE Park-n-Ride “without having to use the road” something that currently does not exist.

In addition, Alexander said back when some of Plainfield’s subdivisions were built, paths were put in, but there are small portions between developments where one path ends and does not connect to other paths.

Tomasz Topor, lead engineer with the village of Plainfield, said new subdivisions in Plainfield have shared use paths, something the village is working to correct in older subdivisions.

Phase one of the project includes preliminary engineering, and an environmental study is nearly complete.

Phase two of the path project includes contract plan preparation and land acquisition, with construction beginning in 2027.

In December, village officials celebrated the grand opening of the one-mile western portion of 143rd Street with an official ribbon cutting ceremony.

The project has now shifted to the eastern portion, which involves constructing a new road between Illinois Route 59 and Illinois Route 126 and includes improvements at both intersections, a bridge over the DuPage River, a new signalized intersection at Plainfield-Naperville Road, and multiple culverts and retaining walls.

The project’s timeline would allow traffic on the road beginning this fall with its final completion expected in spring 2026.

Once the project is completed, Route 126 will be rerouted onto 143rd Street and Ridge Road reducing congestion in the downtown area.