The Lost Bridge Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

Sangamon County, Illinois Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, the List ...

. It was built by the

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...

(IDOT) along an abandoned

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

corridor between the east side of

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

to the center of

Rochester, Illinois Rochester is a village and suburb of Springfield in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,689 at the 2010 census, and 3,713 at a 2018 estimate. The village was settled in 1819, and is located in Rochester Township. Roche ...

. The west end of the trail is on the southeast side of Springfield, off the South Dirksen Parkway (). The east end of the trail is in Rochester, at the Community Drive interchange of

illinois Route 29 Illinois Route 29 (IL 29) is a two to four lane state road that runs south from U.S. Route 6/ Illinois Route 89 at Spring Valley to U.S. Route 51/ Illinois Route 16 at Pana, running through Pekin, Peoria and Springfield. The nearest major n ...

(). The trail crosses the South Fork of the

Sangamon River The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in central Illinois in the United Stat ...

near Rochester, and crosses Sugar Creek near Springfield. Sugar Creek carries the outflow from

Lake Springfield Lake Springfield is a reservoir on the southeast edge of the city of Springfield, Illinois. It is above sea level. The lake was formed in 1931–1935 by building Spaulding Dam across Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River. The lake wa ...

, a sizable nearby reservoir. The ''Lost Bridge'' trail name recalls IDOT's failure to prevent salvagors affiliated with the B&O from dismantling the Sugar Creek bridge for scrap. IDOT had to build a new bridge. Population in the trail's Rochester service area is growing rapidly. Springfield is the county's employment center, and the Lost Bridge Trail is available for use by

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

commuters who live in Sangamon County's southeast townships. The trail is managed jointly by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the village of Rochester. The same railroad right-of-way is also used for a separate trail, the ''Lincoln Prairie Trail'', which connects Taylorville with Pana along the same railroad bed. The trail has also been extended further into the Springfield city limits via the Bunn to Lost Bridge Trail, which follows small stretches of Ash Street and Taylor Avenue in Springfield. Future plans are calling for this section of trail to extend further still and meet dedicated bike lanes along Stanford Avenue.

References

External links

Illinois Department of Transportation

Village of Rochester
Rail trails in Illinois Protected areas of Sangamon County, Illinois Baltimore and Ohio Railroad {{Illinois-stub