As The McHenry cross country team runs down one of the only roads that has sidewalks, they turn onto a new street. The team runs down route 31 and they reach a crossroads. There’s no stoplight, no bike lane and no sidewalk, so they have no choice but to turn around.
McHenry’s cross country team is not the only group of people struggling with its lack of walk and bike infrastructure. Parents walking their children to school, bikers enjoying rides around town and runners training for upcoming races all struggle with McHenry’s infrastructure.
According to Walkscore.com, McHenry is rated a 27 out of 100 for walk score and a 43 out of 100 for bike score. The score is based on the amount of bike lanes, sidewalks and walking trails in McHenry, all of which are low compared to neighboring towns. For example, Crystal lake has a walk score of 30 and a bike score of 45, and Woodstock has a walk score 29 and a bike score of 39.
McHenry has many roads with no sidewalks, no bike lanes and nothing to accommodate bikers or walkers. For example, on Richmond Road there is one sidewalk that ends abruptly, and following that there are no bike trails or sidewalks.
This is a problem because the road leads to many stores and establishments like Walmart, Dicks Sporting Goods, Planet Fitness and many more. Without the sidewalk many people risk their lives walking on the side of the road to access these establishments.
McHenry has many stoplights that do not have crosswalks, making it very dangerous for bikers and walkers.
“You have to cross an opening,” MCHS student and biker Oliver Sznyterman says, “and I’ve nearly been hit there more times than I can count. It’s very dangerous the way they have it mapped out.”
Bikers like Sznyterman have faced this same risk due to the layout of sidewalks and bike trails in McHenry. If McHenry added more crosswalks and other bike or walk friendly infrastructure, then these potential risks would not be as prevalent.
McHenry has many bike trails and sidewalks that end abruptly leaving bikers and walkers with no choice but turning around.
“When I’m walking my dogs to the park in my neighborhood,” says senior Myles Wagner, “sometimes they like to run into the street because we only have one sidewalk in my neighborhood. They’ll stray away from me a little bit, and then they could be at risk because typically we’re walking directly on the street. It’s kind of scary with the possibility of cars driving.”
If McHenry really cared for safety they would make safer infrastructure. With the lack of sidewalks and trails people risk themselves and their pets.
Some people may say that the bike and walk infrastructure is good in the downtown area of McHenry. This is true, but this does not go for the rest of the town. Compared to the size of McHenry, the downtown area makes up a small part of town.
The walk friendly areas in McHenry are catered towards shoppers and customers. Although that isn’t a bad thing, It shouldn’t just accommodate that specific group of people. Bikers, walkers and runners all deserve the same type of treatment.
As the McHenry cross country team runs down the side of the street, they accept that nothing will be done. They decide to face the risk and continue running forward knowing anything could happen next. Although McHenry is capable of making walk and bike friendly infrastructure, they accommodate customers and shoppers over bikers, walkers and runners.