178 miles of Winnebago, Boone, and Ogle trails to be mapped for Google Street View

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Big changes are coming to how local walking and bike paths are maintained. A new program started this week, which will digitally map over 170 miles of trails in Winnebago, Boone, and Ogle counties.

The project is called “State of the Trails.” It uses a bicycle mounted with technology similar to that used by Google Street View to map the shared-use paths and trails.

“In the fall of 2023, it came to the attention of our one that there was a need to look at the condition of the pavement of our bicycle paths and trails,” said Nathan Larsen, associate planner for the Region 1 Development Council.

His agency used a $150,000 grant to start the State of the Trails project, using what they call a Rockford Regional Data Bike.

“We’re going to use to ride across 178 miles of shared use, passing trails in our region, collecting things such as pavement conditions, data, and be able to better understand the pavement condition on all of those paths and trails,” Larsen said.

The bike will use a 360-degree camera to map the trails, which will then be visible from Google Street View.

Data collector Joel Freundenberg is an avid cyclist and said he is excited for what the project will do for his fellow cyclists.

“I bike every day. I bike commute. I also ride the trails at Atwood and Alpine Hills. There’s not a lot of funding for continuing to maintain trails, and so being able to have a smooth, comfortable ride, especially when you’re talking about using it for transportation, is really important,” he said.

Larsen said the project’s success lies in the passion of the team.

“I’m unlucky that I’m not the one that’s going out to ride, to ride the trails myself, but just every day getting to come in here and know that we’re doing something that will help people be healthy and active, help them get to their destinations is really rewarding and it’s a really exciting project,” he said.

Data collection began on May 7th and is expected to be completed by September 2025.