|
The "Bloomingdale
Trail" will connect six new parks, four of which have been
completed. The entire park and trail system is named the "606,"
after the first three digits of city zip codes.
"People are really clamoring to get up there," said Beth White,
director of the Chicago regional office of the Trust for Public
Land, a non-profit conservation group which has led efforts to
fund the project. "People have been dreaming about it since the
1990s, when most of the freight service went away."
The cost of the park and trail system is $95 million. U.S.
Transportation Department clean air funds provided $50 million,
private donations $20 million and the city and county about $5
million, White said. The trust wants to raise $20 million more.
Taking inspiration from Manhattan's successful High Line trail,
cities across the United States have been converting old rail
tracks, roads and bridges into urban parks. Washington is set to
open 11th Street Bridge Park in 2018.
Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail was conceived long before the High
Line opened in 2009, and, at 2.7 miles, is about twice as long,
White said. It will allow bike and stroller traffic on its
14-1/2-foot-wide surface.
The trail will also serve as an alternative transportation
corridor, linking four working- and middle-class neighborhoods
with 80,000 residents. It connects to "L" stations, a Metra rail
station, bus routes and Milwaukee Avenue, a popular thoroughfare
for bike commuters.
The idea for the trail grew out of neighborhood talks about the
need for more parkland on the city's Northwest Side, White said.
After train traffic stopped, the area was used by adventurous
teens, homeless campers and dog walkers who scrambled up the
sides of the embankments.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has supported building bike trails,
pushed for the 606, and construction started in August 2013.
Interest in the trail has led to worries that gentrification
could drive away poorer neighbors.
In response, Emanuel set aside funds to create nearly 700
affordable housing units within a mile of the 606, and proposed
requiring developers to include such units if they want city
help to build.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
|
