Naperville may see more than 100 bike and pedestrian travel improvements over the next 20-plus years.
At its meeting last Thursday, Oct. 1, the Naperville Transportation Advisory Board approved a recommendation to adopt an updated bike and pedestrian plan for the city.
The plan now moves to city council for final approval.
TED hired firm to recommend improvements
Naperville’s Transportation, Engineering and Development Business group hired A. Epstein and Sons International to conduct community surveys and evaluate current bike and pedestrian travel to develop the updated plan.
The city sent a community survey to residents in October 2025 for feedback on the current bike and pedestrian plan, adopted in 1997 and last updated in 2006. Survey results showed that residents were most interested in more bike lanes and trail connections throughout Naperville.
At its Sept. 3 meeting, TAB received a presentation from Epstein on an updated bike and pedestrian plan based on its findings and community feedback. Epstein suggested 112 infrastructure projects, 12 enhancements to existing facilities, 10 intersection improvements, five policy recommendations and four program recommendations.
The proposed updates would total more than $54 million in improvements made incrementally through 2050.
Targeted areas for improvement
Possible improvements range from additional signage and traffic calming measures to building new bike lanes or path connections. Overall, the improvements aim to provide more connectivity north and south, and make residents feel safer and more comfortable when walking or biking through the city.
Ten intersections will be prioritized for improvement.
One intersection of concern is at Aurora Avenue and Eagle Street downtown. Epstein suggested two options for improvement. One would be moving the Eagle Street bike lane onto the sidewalk and directing cyclists to do a two-stage turn through the crosswalk. The other possible option would be to add green pavement markings to a bike lane on Eagle Street.
In areas where speeding is a concern, such as at the intersection of Gartner Road and Edgewater Drive, Epstein recommended additional traffic calming measures, and the addition of bump outs and a rectangular rapid flashing beacon at the trail crossing.
At the Modaff Road and Springbrook Prairie Trailhead, the key issue identified was that current signage doesn’t effectively alert drivers to bicyclists turning left from the Modaff Road bike lane onto the trail. Epstein recommended installing a marked trail crossing with an extension on Modaff Road. To temporarily resolve the issue, Epstein suggested improving signage and pavement markings.
The revised bike and pedestrian plan with a full list of improvements can be found online.
Revised plan presented Thursday
At the September meeting, board members raised concerns about safety features throughout the initial plan. Epstein came back to TAB at Thursday’s meeting to address concerns and make improvements to the plan for board.
The main concerns expressed were about sufficient safety and connectivity, areas that were omitted from improvements, and whether steps would be made to complete these projects through 2050.
In the revised plan, Epstein added a recommendation for more connectivity through downtown; identifying specific future steps for making the improvements, including places initially left out of the plan; and adding clarifying language to some sections.
Board approves updated bike, pedestrian plan
Ahead of the board’s decision on Oct. 1, board member Sarah Rose asked Naperville’s Transportation Manager Michael Prousa to clarify how the city plans to implement the improvements.
Prousa said the revised plan enforces regular updates on how projects are being completed.
“One of the recommendations and requirements in the plan is that we provide a twice-a-year update to TAB regarding where we’re at with putting in these recommendations,” Prousa said. “So we will be doing that starting at our first TAB meeting of 2027, assuming that this gets approved by city council in the next month.”
Prousa also said the semi-annual reports would allow the city to make changes or updates to projects as the city develops in the coming years.
Councilman Josh McBroom asked about fundraising opportunities.
Prousa said that Epstein provided some local, regional, federal and private funding ideas in the final chapters of the planning document. Large projects will be evaluated in the department’s CIP each year, such as adding side paths and bike lanes.
“But a big chunk of this is the bike boulevards and shared use lanes, and then also improving our existing infrastructure. And a lot of that stuff boils down to signage and pavement markings that we can do without any sort of long-term question,” he said.
Following discussion, the decision passed unanimously by attending board members. TAB member James Webb was absent from the meeting.
Stay in the know — sign up for our daily news update!