Does Freeport Need More "Recreational" Paths?

With zero notice to the Freeport City Council or the public at large, a plan for new "recreation path extensions" was presented to the Council at their last meeting at their  September 16 meeting.

How this actual plan originated is anyone's guess, it was first talked about by a handful of local officials two years ago but it never really saw the light of day publicly until last month.

This is the map that was presented to alderpersons by City Manager Rob Boyer.

The red lines indicate where the proposed new routes would be located.  As can be seen, they are concentrated exclusively on the far southwest and far west sides of Freeport.  

The problem with this map is just what manager Boyer wrote in his memo to the council, he referred to the item being financed specifically as "additional City recreation path extensions."

Residents of Freeport are in dire need of transportation enhancements that can be used to conduct commerce within our city.  Isn't it more important for economic development that we use limited public funding to aid in commerce over recreation? When was the last time anyone at city hall talked about constructing pedestrian tunnels or bridges so people could actually walk or bike to points of business without taking their lives' in their hands.  

If City Manager Rob Boyer wants to spend $3 million in Illinois Transportation Enhancement money along with a $1 million local match, the project needs to be more about transportion for commerce than recreation.  This project will do very little to provide an alternate way for students and faculty to access the Highland campus, too far from residential population centers; or to safely cross Stephenson Street or Park Avenue.  What entity will maintain and police the "recreation path?" 

Another important curiousity; when and where did the Freeport City Manager, the interim Executive Directore of the Park District and the President of Highland Community College meet to discuss this proposal?  Who instructed Fehr-Graham to draw the maps? The item was on the City Council agenda on September 16, (Resolution #2024-101), the Freeport Park District agenda on September 17, (Resolution #24-0917) and the Highland Community College agenda on September 24 as agenda item #X-D-2.

Why are three unelected local officials apparently drawing up Freeport transportion plans without any obvious input from the community at large?  To their credit and with much criticism, a few members of the Freeport City Council questioned the plan.  

A siden note,  this issue could be potentially problematic for the HCC Board of Trustees.  If the board is financing transportion enhancements in Freeport,  will the junior college kick a $100k per year into transportion projects within the other three counties that make up HCC's tax base?  Population wise, Freeport represents only about 25% of the college district.

In other municipalities transportion proposals are the result of figuring out what the public needs and wants through public meetings and bona fide studies.  Here in Freeport, three unelected officials appear to be deciding how transportion dollars should be spent, unfortunately for the public at large, other than a few Freeport City Council members, their boards appear to be in lockstep with this method of operation.

Why even elect boards and commissioners in Stephenson County when all decisions, especially those as important as transportion, are obviously decided by a few people in a back room and the majority of thier boards, elected for oversight, simply defer. 

Is this actually a service to the public?

More trasportation issues to come.

As always, yours in honesty,  John Samuel Cook, 2024