Construction Progresses on Phase IV of the Old Collinsville Road Trail

The final phase of the Old Collinsville Road Trail is under construction. This St. Clair County Transit District (SCCTD) project will extend the existing 2.5-mile paved trail by one mile from Frank Scott Parkway to Ashland Avenue, where it will connect to the mile-long St. Ellen Trail, which links users to an additional 1.75 miles of St. Clair County trails within St. Ellen Park. The St. Ellen Trail is set to extend 0.75 miles from Old Collinsville Road to Judy Lane in Fairview Heights (near the fire station) in the future, further increasing the amount of seamless trail connections for nearby residents to access and enjoy. Once the extensions for Old Collinsville Road Trail and the St. Ellen Trail are complete, the communities of Belleville, Swansea, Fairview Heights and O’Fallon will be linked, and the trails will provide direct access to Joseph Arther Middle School, William Holiday Elementary School and Pontiac Middle School in Fairview Heights and O’Fallon.

“We are excited to see construction progressing quickly on Phase IV of the Old Collinsville Road Trail,” commented Ken Sharkey, managing director for St. Clair County Transit District. “This is a critical link that interconnects trails, parks, schools and neighborhoods to the larger community. It furthers safety and encourages healthy, active lifestyles.”

Construction will be completed in late 2024. At that time, the four-phases of the Old Collinsville Road Trail project will combine to extend 3.5 miles from Lebanon Avenue in Belleville to Ashland Avenue in Fairview Heights. It will also connect to Richland Creek Bikeway in Swansea, which links to the MetroBikeLink near North End Park.

The Old Collinsville Road Trail is part of SCCTD’s MetroBikeLink System that consists of more than 30 miles of interconnecting trails and bike paths in Southwestern Illinois. The main artery of this ever-evolving system is the MetroBikeLink. This trail runs adjacent to the MetroLink alignment, starting at the Shiloh-Scott Transit Center in Shiloh and extending 14 miles to the Fairview Heights Transit Center in Fairview Heights, linking residents to a total of six Metro Transit Centers and four different communities, offering seamless integration of biking and transit use. SCCTD is also planning 4.5 additional miles of MetroBikeLink extension adjacent to the 5.2-mile MetroLink expansion project connecting the Shiloh-Scott Transit Center to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, which is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2026.