More Details Released: MCT Yellowhammer Trail Aims to Reduce Vehicle Use, Improve Air Quality

EDWARDSVILLE - More details of the upcoming MCT Yellowhammer Connector Trail are now emerging.

The project remains several months away from completion, but Executive Director for the Agency for Community Transit S.J. Morrison said today there is a lot of excitement about the new trail addition. The trail connector will be partially constructed on a former streetcar corridor, known locally as the “Yellowhammer,” which operated between Edwardsville and Granite City in the early 1900s. The old streetcar in that area was called the “Yellowhammer” because the train cars speeding down the tracks sounded like the percussive beat of a “yellowhammer woodpecker.”

The project runs from the northeastern end of the SIUE Delyte Morris Trail to the MCT Goshen Trail just south of New Poag Road. Construction on the MCT Yellowhammer Connector Trail started Nov. 1, 2023, and activities include tree and scrub brush cleaning, earth moving, pile driving, installing a pre-engineered bridge, paving, re-seeding and tree planting, Morrison said.

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"The trail completion and opening are scheduled for the summer 2024," he added.

The project design engineer is Oates Associates, and the contractor is Keller Construction Co.

Other MCT Yellowhammer Connector Details are as follows:

SUMMARY:

• To expand the MCT Trails system and make a critical bike/ped connection to the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) campus, Madison County Transit (MCT) is constructing a new bikeway known as the MCT Yellowhammer Connector.
• MCT secured a $3 million“Re-Build Illinois” grant for this project, which provides funds for land acquisition, design/engineering, and construction.
• The trail connector is being constructed on the eastern edge of the SIUE campus and on MCT-owned property north of the Lincoln Knolls Subdivision in Edwardsville (see map below).

DETAILS:

• The 10-foot-wide, asphalt trail is 2,400-feet-long and considered a Class I bikeway.
• This missing link between campus and community features a 200-foot-long bike “bowstring truss” concrete-deck bridge over the Delaplain Branch creek valley.
• The project supports MCT’s mission of reducing single occupancy vehicle use and improving air quality by creating a bike/ped option for individuals commuting to or visiting SIUE.
• Because this is an active construction site, no trespassing is allowed until the project is completed.

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