Washington Recreation Trail
Location
Trailheads:
- Washington Park, 815 Lincoln St., Washington IL
- McDonald’s, 1440 Washington Rd., Washington IL
- Harry LaHood Park, 1515 Kingsbury Rd., Washington IL
Each Trailhead offers a place to park a vehicle with a bathroom (sometimes a portable toilet) and drinking fountain nearby.
Description
The Washington Recreation Trail system features 11 miles of concrete and bituminous surface for walking, running, inline-skating and bicycling. The trail system connects a number of destination points including schools and parks. The City of Washington and the Park District continue to work cooperatively for any opportunity to extend or connect the recreation trails, in order to not only make it a great recreational amenity for the community but also an alternative means of transportation to a variety of community resources and destinations.
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History
The first phase of the Recreation Trail started at McDonald’s past Central School to Wilmor Rd.
Phase II extended the trail from Wilmor Rd past the high school and through Washington Park.
The City of Washington, while making street improvements to Kern Rd, included a 8-10 foot wide sidewalk along most of the roadway as part of their project as part of the Recreation Trail system.
Phase III was the most extensive Recreation Trail project at 3.1 miles of paved trail connecting several segments and destinations. This project was funded in part by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and an Illinois Bike Trial grant. The project extended the trail from Washington Park east to N. Main St. and to Jefferson St. and to the west past Washington Central School through the Trail’s Edge Subdivision to Cummings Lane, where it continued to run parallel with Cummings Lane to the south connecting to the existing trail (Part of the Kern Rd. project) just south of the Cummings Lane and Washington Rd. intersection.
High School parking lot segment was built along Wilmor Rd. and the WCHS parking lot to better connect Phase I to Phase II during the construction of Five Points Washington.
North Main St. Extension connects Washington Park to Washington Middle School.
Kern Rd. Connection was completed in cooperation with the home builders, City of Washington and the developer to connect the new section of Kern Rd. from Hillcrest St. to Cummings Lane.
Wilmor Rd. Connection completed a key segment that connected the Recreation Trail on the north of Peoria St. along Wilmor Rd. (Phase I and Phase II) to the south Kern Rd. Segment. This Connection completed a 4.2 mile loop.
Cummings Lane Segment was completed by the City of Washington as part of the Cummings Lane road improvements from St. Clare Crossing at IL By-Pass 24 north to Oak Ridge Park.
Cummings Lane Connection was completed the following year by the City of Washington in order to connect Phase III and the western loop to the north Cummings Lane Segment.
Dallas Rd. Extension was completed by the City of Washington as part of the Dallas Road improvements. This extension begins at Trail’s Edge (Part of Phase III) and extends to the north along Dallas Rd. to Westminster. This section includes a bridge across part of Farm Creek.
With the Route 8 improvements by IDOT, a seven foot sidewalk was installed along both side of the improved roadway. This sidewalk serves as part of the Recreation Trail that begins at McCluggage Rd. going west to East Peoria. This sidewalk runs parallel to Route all the way into downtown East Peoria and eventually to the riverfront and Bob Michael Bridge.