The Ring o' the River
Quad City Times - Cycling
By Chuck Oestreich

April 2002

Future fitness facilities don't just pop out of nowhere. No, they start with a dream, take form with a plan, and then the hard work begins: Finding funds. Labor. Bricks and mortar. Ribbon cutting.

But now let's dream. Let's dream about one of the most superb arenas for outdoor fitness in the country, coupled with incomparable scenic enhancements. Let's dream about an eight-mile loop of connected multi-use path in the heart of the Quad Cities along both sides of the Mississippi River - and across it at two points.

Yes, let's dream about the Ring o' the River

It's at least ten years in the future, but three-quarters of the Ring is already cast.

The newest and shiniest part — fully completed — is the section of the Illinois Great River Trail from the Government Bridge in Rock Island to the I-74 Bridge in Moline, strung with glittering ornaments that include the Botanical Center, Sylvan Island, and the John Deere Commons.

In Iowa from Davenport's Government Bridge exit to the I-74 Bridge in Bettendorf the gap is crumbling, and the prospect of a stellar transit with views of the river pool and the classic north face of Arsenal Island is almost upon us.

In the immediate future, the American Discovery Trail crossing of Government Bridge and the tip of Arsenal Island will provide safe passage for pedestrians and bicyclists between Rock Island and Davenport.

That's three-quarters of the ring just about completed. The one-quarter that remains is the Interstate 74 Bridge - more specifically the future bridge being planned right now.

To round out the Ring o' the River, non-motorized access in needed.

Putting a bike/pedestrian passageway on a new bridge should be a given. We don't have any on the last two bridges we built in this area, but they are at the periphery. The I-74 Bridge is not isolated in the outskirts; it's in the heart of our community, a multi-state community filled with walkers, runners, and bikers eager to have the freedom of movement that cars have. And not only fitness buffs will benefit; two major employers, John Deere and Alcoa, lie close to the bridge corridor, opening up a whole new world of bicycle transportation to and from work.

Surely the fitness benefits to the entire Quad City community would ordain a bike/pedestrian passageway. With a nation growing increasingly flaccid, obese, and stationary, a healthy transportation incentive that can be added on while the bridge is being built, not constructed separately, surely makes sense. Especially when we're talking about a bridge that will be around for 75 years in the future.

Whether the passage will be on a new, multi-lane bridge or on one or both of the historic twin bridges in use today, will, I'm sure, provide much lively debate and investigation. But from the cyclists' point of view, what matters most is a safe and convenient passage, wherever it is located on the I-74 corridor.

The Ring 'o the River. It beckons. An eight-mile ring of recreation and reflection, of fitness and vistas, of transportation and exhilaration, and -above all - of a community knit together by bridges that link rather than divide.

Prepare yourself for the Ring o' the River.