Sen. Win Stoller wants to create a trail that would follow adjacent to the Rock Island railway from Bureau to LaSalle. | Facebook
Sen. Win Stoller wants to create a trail that would follow adjacent to the Rock Island railway from Bureau to LaSalle. | Facebook
State Sen. Win Stoller (R-Germantown) has put his plan for the Kaskaskia Alliance in motion.
“I recently had a meeting to discuss the possibility of creating a trail that would follow adjacent to the Rock Island railway from Bureau to LaSalle,” Stoller recently posted on Facebook. “This new trail would be known as the Kaskaskia Alliance Trail, and it would connect the Hennepin Canal Trail with the I&M Canal Trail. By connecting these two trails together with the Kaskaskia Alliance Trail, Illinois would have a continuous path of approximately 170 miles from the Quad Cities area to Joliet.”
While the proposal is still in the works, Stoller is already counting the benefits.
“It would certainly become an attraction for outdoor enthusiasts throughout the nation,” he said.
As it is, the Hennepin Canal and Illinois & Michigan Canal now run almost the full width of Illinois, with each also being home to a popular recreational trail alongside it.
The Illinois & Michigan Canal trail runs from Joliet to La Salle for a distance of approximately 65 miles. The Hennepin Canal State Trail runs from Colona to Bureau Junction for a distance of about 90 miles.
Back in 2004, local congressmen steered $800,000 in federal transportation funds for initial engineering surveys; a total of $3 million is estimated for project completion. Roughly five years later, the preliminary study reviewed three possible routings for the trail. Only one routing is an actual trail; the other two are street directions.
Between 1994 and 2015, the I&M Canal Trial was leased at 7.57 miles long.
The Hennepin Canal State Trial is also enjoyed by many as perfect destination for a day of leisure, offering areas for everything from picnicking to hiking to biking and fishing.
With many picnic tables lining its 104.5 mile parkway spanning the counties of Rock Island, Bureau, Henry, Lee and Whiteside, the Hennepin Canal is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Constructed from 1982 to 1907, The Hennepin was the first American canal built of concrete without stone-cut facings.
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