New trail link planned at Greene Valley

A new 1,500-foot trail connection will soon link Greene Valley Forest Preserve and a neighborhood bike path in Naperville that ends at 79th Street and Yackley Avenue, DuPage Forest Preserve District officials said Friday.

To reach the entrance to the trail system in Greene Valley from the end of the neighborhood path, users currently must travel down 79th Street, a two-lane township road without shoulders or sidewalks. When residents voiced safety concerns, the forest preserve district, Naperville, Naperville Park District and the Lisle Township Highway Commissioner entered into an agreement to build an off-street trail connection. A lease between the forest preserve district and ComEd recently was approved to permit construction.

Greene Valley’s existing 11-mile trail system is connected to the Southern DuPage Regional Trail, which runs east-west from Burr Ridge and Hinsdale to Aurora, and will be part of the planned East Branch DuPage River Trail, which is slated to run north-south from Bloomingdale to Woodridge and into Will County when complete.

No closures of existing amenities are expected to accommodate the construction, which will begin soon. Officials said the trail may be complete as quickly as late October.