Bikeways
There are few sidewalks and ever fewer bikeways currently in the Village, yet opportunities abound to establish a full-service bikeway network. Most of Palos Park is a compact residential community with low volume streets with scenic areas and miles of trails adjacent to the Village. A bikeway network will provide facilities for transportation, recreation, and exercise for all ages and skill levels of riders from beginners to traffic proficient.

The best network includes a mix of four types of bikeways: TRAILS (separate from road right-of-way such as Forest Preserve and ComEd), PATHS (in road right-of-way but separated from road pavement such as extra wide sidewalk in the parkway), LANES (on road pavement but in a separate striped lanes just for bicycles), and ROUTES (on road pavement and shoulders shared with vehicles).

The bikeway objectives listed below and the bikeway locates shown in Figure 8.2 are a guide for future Village actions to build the bikeway network.

1. Connect high priority destinations including parks, schools, stores, and train stations making bikeways a viable alternative to vehicular travel.

2.Link to other bike ways in the region including forest preserve trails, Cal Sag Trails and other municipal trails.

3. Facilities should be designed for safety such as selecting low volume streets for bike routes and installing appropriate signage for traffic control and way finding.

4.Install traffic calling feathers where feasible to raise driver awareness

5.Update the Village standards for inclusion for new bikeway facilities and new developments.

6.Pursue grants for bikeway construction and programming.

7.Support other jurisdictions to pursue bikeway planning implementation complete streets policies and promotional activities.

• Ride with traffic. Keep to the right of the road.
• Obey all traffic regulations.
• Use proper hand signals for turning or stopping.
• Stop and look both ways in order to make sure that sidewalks or streets are clear before entering a street.
• Walk your bicycle across busy streets at corners or crosswalks.
• Use proper headlights and a red tail light or reflector when riding at night

NEVER

• Show off. Keep your hands on the handlebars.
• Zigzag, race or stunt ride in traffic.
• Hitch rides on trucks or cars.

TIPS

• ALWAYS wear you bike helmet and make sure your brothers and sisters do, too.
• Make a deal with your best friends to always wear your helmets when you ride together.
• Don’t ride at night.

FACTS

• Wearing a bike helmet is the most important thing you can do to protect your brain and your life when riding a bicycle.
• Children between the ages of 5 and 14 have the highest rate of injury of all bicycle riders.
• More then 500,000 children a year go to the hospital emergency rooms of doctors’ offices due to bike injuries.