Bike Path and Recreation
Neighbors in favor of a neighborhood mosque

The proposed Islamic Center of Naperville (ICN) is bounded on north by the Tall Grass Greenway Trail, a 3.8-mile trail running through many neighborhoods in South Naperville. Stretching from Vermont Cemetery Preserve on the west to Naperville/Plainfield Road on the east, this trail serves walkers, runners, bikers and families and children of all ages.

Where the trail crosses 248th Avenue, there is crosswalk marked only by a Flashing Pedestrian Signal. The flashing lights do not require drivers to stop, but simply alert drivers that there is a pedestrian attempting or waiting to cross. According to the Naperville 248th Expansion Project, roughly 621 cars pass through that crosswalk per hour or equivalent to 10 cars per minute.

The trail leads to the new Wolf’s Crossing Community Park. The new park is expected to offer a baseball diamond, multi-purpose fields, basketball, pickleball and tennis courts, sand volleyball, a playground, a ninja course, and a splash pad. Residents have already seen increased trail activity as local residents use the trail to access Wolf Crossing Park. The Wolf’s Crossing Park addition was not evaluated as part of the ICN’s traffic report.

Significantly, the trail crossing is just north of one of the two proposed entrance drives for the ICN: the entrance is about 50 yards from the trail. In reviewing a draft of the plan for this site, the City appended this comment: “… the City is not done evaluating the safety aspect of the crosswalk (as part of the 248th Ave Phase I study), how the north entrance may impact the crossing, and therefore has not committed to allowing full access at this north location.” ICN has proposed a crossing guard for Friday services. This measure does not address the underlying safety concerns at all other hours of the week.

A “grade separation,” such as an overpass, might be the safest solution for this crossing. Unfortunately, that is not possible due to ComEd towers and infringement on the Ashwood Point neighborhood. The City has proposed a pedestrian island as part of the 248th expansion, but that may not be sufficient given hourly traffic of more than 600 cars at this crossing. A possible solution is a pedestrian and bike tunnel underneath 248th Ave.

We a look forward to working with the ICN to find solutions that benefit all neighbors, worshippers and users of the trail.