This view of the new shared use trail, including an underpass, is from south on Route 3 near the South Library Street intersection. (Alan Dooley photo)

The Illinois Department of Transportation is paving the way to safety for bicyclists and pedestrians with a 10-foot-wide shared use trail along Route 3 in Waterloo.

The path will start at North Market Street and continue south for a little more than three miles to Vandebrook Drive. According to IDOT, the shared use trail will still take one to two months to complete, with the contractor laying concrete sidewalks and completing handicap ramps to connect the trail to side road crossings on Route 3.

The trail also travels through an underpass built beneath Route 3 near South Library Street.

Along with the trail — which is partially funded by the city of Waterloo — IDOT decided to include a 1,000-foot-long concrete noise abatement wall behind the shared use path on the east side of Route 3. The wall will begin approximately 1,600 feet north of South Library and continue north.

Waterloo and Monroe County are pushing for two sidewalk grants that would allow bikers and pedestrians to travel from the shared use path to different areas of the city. One of these Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grants would allow for the construction of a sidewalk heading south on Market Street from East Bulldog Boulevard at the high school to the beginning of the Vandebrook subdivision south of Route 3.

Then, an existing trail — which begins where Fountain Brook Drive ends in the subdivision and goes through Lakeview Park to South Library Street — would connect to a sidewalk that would begin at that intersection and continue to the Route 3 trail at Park Street.

The second ITEP grant is one where the city and Monroe County would share in the cost. This grant will enable these entities to build a sidewalk that would begin where the Route 3 trail ends at North Market Street and continue north on Market Street to HH Road. The sidewalk would then travel east on HH Road to North Rogers Street, connecting with an existing shared use trail on Rogers.

Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith said the city will find out if both grants are approved at the end of the month. The Waterloo City Council approved two separate resolutions during a May meeting supporting applications for these ITEP grants.

Contact the City of Waterloo at 939-8600 for more on these sidewalk projects.

For more information on the ITEP grant application process, go to idot.illinois.gov/transportation-system/local-transportation-partners/county-engineers-and-local-public-agencies/funding-opportunities/ITEP.

Work continues for the Route 3 project as a whole. The contractor is milling asphalt at North Market street and other side road locations this week, resulting in traffic delays. Traffic patterns will change Friday when the northbound lane will be shifted to the east side of the road.

IDOT said final asphalt surfacing on Route 3 will begin next Monday or Tuesday, and the contractor will take about four weeks to complete this portion of the project.

Roundabout work will continue after this construction. For more on IDOT’s Route 3 improvement project, go to idot.illinois.gov/projects/il-3-project.