Route 66 bike trail extension in Normal would link to Sprague’s Super Service station

The town council of Normal, Illinois, on Monday will consider whether to approve a bid for an extension of a bicycle trail along Route 66 that would connect to the historic Sprague’s Super Service station.

According to WGLT, an National Public Radio affiliate at Illinois State University:

The roughly $471,000 contract would extend the trail from the intersection of Beech and Pine streets, through One Normal Plaza, around a detention basin, and back to the current trail end at Towanda Avenue and Shelbourne Drive.
From there, the existing trail goes to Towanda and points north. Part of the cost would come from a $150,000 state grant. The proposal is part of the town’s overall bicycle-pedestrian master plan. It would use some Route 66 road bed remnants and link the trail to the Sprague Super Service station, a Route 66 attraction owned by the town.

According to the town council’s agenda, the bidder for the project is H.J. Eppel & Co., a century-old construction company based in Pontiac, Illinois.

The distance from Sprague’s Super Service station to Towanda would be about six miles.

Sprague Super Service was built in 1931 on Route 66 by William Sprague. It uniquely was designed as a gas station and residence. It sold City Service gas but became other businesses by the 1940s, and the pumps were removed by 1979. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sprague’s Super Service station opened to the public nearly four years ago as a visitor center after the city purchased the property from owner Terri Ryburn and renovated it, spending a total of about $600,000. Ryburn Place is the gift shop inside the station.

UPDATE 4/20/2021: The town’s council approved the bike trail extension.

(Image of Sprague’s Super Service station in Normal, Illinois, by Teemu008 via Flickr)

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