PONTOON BEACH - In an effort to keep the Madison County Transit (MCT) Trails clean, welcoming, and appropriate for all ages, MCT is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any individuals or groups vandalizing or dumping on the MCT Trails.
Although MCT has offered this reward for several years, a recent increase in vandalism and graffiti on the MCT Trails has prompted this reminder.
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In many cases, the graffiti that is appearing on the trails and in the tunnels is inappropriate, lewd, and not in line with MCT’s mission to provide Madison County residents and visitors with a safe, scenic, and family-friendly venue for outdoor recreation or transportation. Most of the graffiti is being found on the MCT Trails in the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area.
In addition to offering the reward, MCT is partnering with local law enforcement from various municipalities to track these incidents, investigate, and hopefully soon apprehend the offender.
“We are extremely proud of the efforts made by our team to maintain the MCT Trails at the highest level and to address issues in a timely manner,” said MCT Managing Director SJ Morrison. “It’s obviously frustrating that this beloved community asset continues to be the target of vandalism. We’re grateful for the assistance of local police departments and we’re offering this reward to either catch the vandals or deter this behavior in the future.”
“We have no tolerance for this blatant disregard of public property,” said Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine. “Our office will prosecute any offender to the fullest extent of the law.”
Anyone with information about the source of graffiti/vandalism on the MCT Trails, is encouraged to call the Edwardsville Police Department at 618-656-2131. To learn more about the MCT Trails, visit www.mcttrails.org, e-mail trails@mct.org or call (618) 797-4600.
Madison County Transit (MCT) provides multi-modal transportation services for Madison County, Illinois. MCT operates a fixed-route bus service, connecting to MetroLink; express weekday commuter service directly to and from downtown St. Louis; and seasonal express service to the Muny. For elderly and disabled residents who are unable to use the fixed-route buses, MCT provides complementary paratransit service. MCT is also responsible for the construction and maintenance of more than 138 miles of bikeways that comprise the MCT Trails system, as well as overseeing RideFinders, the St. Louis region’s FREE carpooling and vanpooling program.
