This page shows news articles related to specific greenways and communities.
All News Clips
| Back to List | |
| Valley Line Trail construction might get started in July | |
| Jun 14, 2007 | |
| Alan Schmidt, Staff Writer aschmidt@pioneerlocal.com | |
| EdgebrookSauganash-TimesReview | |
| Pertains to Valley Line Trail, Chicago, Lincolnwood | |
| After repeatedly being told through the years that work on the Valley Line Trail would start soon, Sauganash residents might see construction crews laying down the trail in early July, said a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Transportation. The fully-funded, $2.3 million project will feature a roughly one mile, multi-use trail that is divided for bicycle riding, hiking and running. It will stretch from Bryn Mawr Avenue to Devon Avenue. ComEd owns the right-of-way the planned path will traverse. The city will lease access to it for $1. The trail would start just east of Kostner Avenue at its southern end. From there it a makes a mild curve to the east -- roughly in the shape of a bow -- skirting the eastern edge of Sauganash Park and ending just west of Kostner at its northern end. In addition to Bryn Mawr and Devon, there will be access points at West Thome Avenue and at Sauganash Park. The existing railroad viaducts at Rogers Avenue and at Peterson Avenue will be demolished and replaced with lightweight bridges specifically designed to provide clear visibility from the street. The path itself will have a total width of 22 feet, split down the middle to allow for north and southbound travel. Each side will have a 6-foot-wide bicycle lane just off the center, a 3-foot-wide running and walking trail to the right of it, and a 2-foot-wide, landscaped border at the edge. The bike and foot lanes will have specialized surfaces. As a safety and orientation feature, markers will be posted along the path that will be based on the city's address marking system, allowing people to provide their locations in case of emergencies. Once the Valley Line Trail is completed, it will be turned over to the Chicago Park District. As with city parks, the real estate that is part of the trail would be subject to the typical state criminal statutes that apply to public park land. Many criminal offenses -- such as possession of marijuana or a controlled substance, selling illegal drugs, use of alcohol by a minor, possession of or unlawful use of a weapon, gang recruitment or activity -- are made more severe if they occur within a park as well as a set buffer zone around a park. Police would no longer have to get permission from ComEd to enter the property and would have full access to the trail. There are no train tracks remaining on the rail bed that will be used for the bike and walking paths. The long-removed extension once branched off from a length of track that cuts northeast along the western edge of the industrial park there. That former set of tracks split off from the mainline right at Bryn Mawr Avenue. The Chicago Department of Transportation will install planters to separate the soon-to-be constructed Valley Line Trail from was is now a very seldom-used length set of rails. Alderman Margaret Laurino, 39th Ward, once said the city would like to someday put a trail on that rail bed, if it is ever is abandoned. If the rusted rails and appearance of long-deferred maintenance is any clue it would seem that the days for that line are numbered. In the future, according to the city's Chicago Bike 2015 Plan, the Valley Line Trail might be part of a network of off-street bike and walking trials that stretches through city park and Cook County Forest Preserve District land along the North Branch of the Chicago River. Until then, the city has a route on recommended streets that takes riders between city paths along the North Shore Channel and a county forest preserve trail that starts at Caldwell and Devon avenues. The Valley Line Trail might someday continue across Devon, along the railroad right of way, into the north and northwest suburbs as part of a "Rails to Trails" initiative. |
»»»»»
Greenway Trails
» » »Existing
» » »Project
» » »Potential
Greenway Maps
» » »by Agency
» » »by Scope
Community Systems
» » »Active
» » »Typical
» » »Sedentary
» » »Dead-end
Grade Separations
» » »Existing
» » »Needed
Trail Development
» » »News
» » »Events
Greenway Advocacy Materials
Bicycle Underpass/Overpass Gallery
About Greenway Planning Database
About Steve Breese
PalatineRoad.com
Contact Steve Breese
Greenway Links
ArlingtonTrotters.com
Fast Track Racing Team
COGO
Technical Corner