Hi,

The Vadalabene Bikeway along the Great River Road from Alton to Pere  
Marquette State Park is crumbling away, particularly the section between Alton  
and Clifton Terrace. There is a spring or storm drain flowing across the
trail  leaving a slimey, slippery coating of algae, small boulders are strewn
across  the trail, and in one section a culvert crossing under the trail has
partially  collapsed, and there's not even caution barricades around it.
Further down the  trail, it has turned to mud for 15 feet or so and the trail
narrows down to only  one lane. At least where you can tell the lanes since
the markings have worn  away from several decades of weather. We all need to
contact IDOT and insist  they return the trail to its former glory. Funding
hasn't been short for all  that time, they have just been ignoring it.
I will have pictures posted soon on my web site at
_www.mv24.org/river.html_ (http://www.mv24.org/river.html) .

Mike Hahn
_www.mv24.org/trails.html_ (http://www.mv24.org/trails.html)

I wrote about the Vadalabene trail late last year on my blog in a four-
part series that begins here: http://rogerkramercycling.org/blog/?p=1715

Part of the problem is that you have multiple juristictions handling
the trail. The city of Alton is reponsible for the trail from the
Piasa Bird parking lot to the Godfrey city limits, which I think is
the worst part of the trail.

IDOT is in charge from there to Grafton. The city of Grafton is
responsible for the trail in that city, and the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources is responsible for the trail in Pere Marquette State
Park.

It's disappointing to see nothing has changed much since I did that
series. I know the state of Illinois and communities have deep
financial problems, but I have to agree that some of the work should
have been done before the financial crunch hit.

Thanks,
Roger Kramer

On Sep 21, 7:04 pm, Mochall...@aol.com wrote: