ITEP’s boardwalk construction underway in Dixon

DIXON – Work continued this week on the new pathway that will expand Dixon’s existing multi-use path, running from the south side of the Peoria Avenue bridge west to the elevated railway.

The work is part of the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Project that includes construction of a boardwalk that will lead from the ground level up to the railway and path, then head south to the intersection of West Seventh Street and Depot Avenue.

The city has been awarded $3.5 million in ITEP grant funding to pay for the project. The total cost of this phase is $4.7 million. Construction began this spring and is scheduled to be substantially complete by late fall, said Matt Heckman, Dixon’s public works director.

The ITEP bike path project is the third phase in the city’s riverfront master plan. It will lead into the fourth phase, Project Rock, for which Dixon won a $12 million federal transportation grant to build a pedestrian bridge across the Rock River and add more trail.