Closing the loop: East Peoria looking to complete Camp Street Trail

Mike Kramer, Pekin Daily Times
·1 min read
A half-mile of the Camp Trail project along Camp Street from Main Street to Clock Tower Drive in East Peoria has been completed. Plans are now in the works to finish the final third of the trail to Riverfront Drive, connecting the Levee District with the River Trail of Illinois.
A half-mile of the Camp Trail project along Camp Street from Main Street to Clock Tower Drive in East Peoria has been completed. Plans are now in the works to finish the final third of the trail to Riverfront Drive, connecting the Levee District with the River Trail of Illinois.

The City of East Peoria is preparing to enter the final phase of a Camp Street Trail project designed to create a hiking and biking “loop” that incorporates the six-mile River Trail of Illinois with the city’s Levee District.

According to Ty Livingston, the city’s director for planning and development, a half-mile section of the trail from Main Street to Clock Tower Drive has been completed. The final .3-mile section will run from Clock Tower Drive to Riverfront Drive and will include a trailhead parking lot.

“The concept is a recreational loop,” Livingston added. “It’s an opportunity for someone to take a lunch break, do this loop, come back to their car and go back to work. It will be something that can be enjoyed very briefly, or you can take a longer trip on to the River Trail of Illinois.”

The final phase of the Camp Street Trail is expected to cost approximately $320,000. The city applied earlier this month to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for a grant of up to $200,000 to help fund the project under the state’s Recreational Trail Program. Livingston noted that the city is prepared to commit up to $185,000 to the endeavor.

With engineering and design studies underway, Livingston said that final phase construction could begin next year and could be completed by the end of 2024. In the long run, he hopes the Camp Street Trail will include landscaping and public art displays.

“Residents are looking for these types of amenities in a community,” said Livingston. “Those communities that are successful at keeping their residents and attracting new ones have these types of things available.”

The final section of the Camp Trail project will link up the finished portion at Clock Tower Drive along Camp Street to Riverfront Drive, completing a loop that connects the Levee District with the six-mile River Trail of Illinois.
The final section of the Camp Trail project will link up the finished portion at Clock Tower Drive along Camp Street to Riverfront Drive, completing a loop that connects the Levee District with the six-mile River Trail of Illinois.

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Closing the loop: East Peoria looking to complete Camp Street Trail