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Suburban Chicago Bicycling

Bridges and an underpass slowly emerge, ticks quickly invade

Published 25 days ago • 1 min read

Hey, what's going on there in Busse Woods?

Three bridges and an underpass

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One of the first posts I wrote for Suburban Chicago Bicycling talked about how multi-million-dollar price tags can make bike-pedestrian bridges difficult to build despite so much need for them. Well, this cold and rainy week gave me time to learn more about three such bridges, plus an underpass, that are coming to fruition:

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  • Streamwood's bridge over Route 59: It was the subject of that January post, and now some pictures show progress on the ground.
  • Barrington's Route 14 underpass: Ground broke on this massive Northwest Highway project to dodge CN trains. A bike path will be part of it, eventually.
  • Mount Prospect's bridge over Route 14: Designs are still being finished, but this connection between Melas and Meadows parks is set to come in 2026.
  • Elk Grove Village's bridge over Arlington Heights Road: I was surprised to see ground work already happening on a safe connection from Busse Woods to the new development off Higgins Road, though the bridge isn't supposed to be completed until the spring of 2026. And this one will cost $9.3 million!

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​See some details on the projects plus pictures and illustrations.

An uptick in ticks: What, us worry?

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Then I learned this week that there are more ticks in our forests and prairies this year, and the advice is to completely cover ourselves. But do we bicyclists really have to?
​Read what ticks don't do.​

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ALWAYS ON THE WEBSITE

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  • ​2025 road and trail work: Updates include the Fox River Trail reopening in St. Charles.
  • ​News briefs: Another open house on Fairfield Road in Lake County is scheduled.
  • ​Invitational/charity ride calendar:
    • McHenry County Century Ride is Sunday. Shorter rides, too.
    • Arlington 500 in Lake County and Ride for the Troops in the Plainfield area are on June 1.
    • Bicycle Club of Lake County Ramble is on June 8.

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Long sleeves to guard against ticks? This Memorial Day weekend we need 'em to ward off the chill. Well, we did have summer last week. Enjoy the holiday. — Neil

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​Read old newsletters​

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* At top, is this where the next bridge from Busse Woods begins? And will that tree be saved? Stay tuned.

Suburban Chicago Bicycling

Neil Holdway

A source for the great trails and roads to ride a bicycle in Chicago's suburbs, and to learn about efforts to make bicycling easier there.

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