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Broadview Quietly Becoming Proviso’s Biking Destination


Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson bikes during the 2021 Tour de Proviso event. | File 

Sunday, May 15, 2022 || By Michael Romain || @maywoodnews 

During a regular board meeting on May 2, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson formally recognized May as National Bike Month with a resolution urging residents to join her in the observation.

This month, Broadview residents and visitors “will experience the joys of bicycling through educational programs, races, commuting events, charity events, or by simply getting out and going for a ride,” the resolution reads.

The resolution is the latest gesture in Thompson’s growing love affair with bikes, which goes back at least to the launch of her annual Walk/Bike with the Mayor initiative in 2020, the first year the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s Walk/Bike with the Mayor starts again on May 21. Saturdays at 9 a.m. will be for biking while Sundays at 7 a.m. will be for walking. The initiative will run most weekends through Oct. 2.

The bike meeting location will be at the 14th Street and 17th Avenue light while the walk meeting location will be at the Walgreens at 1600 Roosevelt Road in Broadview. For more information on the schedule, click here.

Bikers from across the west suburbs gather in Broadview during last year’s Tour de Proviso event. | File 

Meanwhile, the Broadview Police Department has played a role in the village’s bike enthusiasm, with its annual Bicycle Registration Day. This year, the registration took place on May 15, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In October 2020, Thompson also helped organize the first annual Tour de Proviso, an ode to the Tour de France, which entails bikers from across the west suburbs wheeling through several communities.

The first event included Broadview, Bellwood and Maywood. Last year’s event grew, encompassing even more suburbs, including River Forest. This year’s event, Thompson said, is likely to be even bigger.

“This year, we got permission to ride through the Brookfield Zoo,” Thompson said on May 2.

The mayor’s biking enthusiasm has also translated into future infrastructure improvements, with the village winning a $2.9 million grant earlier this year to build a bike path along 25th Avenue. The grant is funded through the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Thompson said the bike path will stretch through the village’s industrial zone and the Cook County forest preserve. The project’s engineering phase is scheduled to begin by the fall of this year, with construction starting by the spring of 2024, she said.

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