How federal grant will support East Branch DuPage River Trail
The 61-mile Illinois Prairie Path all started with a letter and a dream.
The late May Theilgaard Watts, a naturalist at the Morton Arboretum, envisioned a nature trail along the old Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway.
"If we have the courage and foresight ... then we can create from this strip a proud resource," Watts wrote to the Chicago Tribune in 1963.
Stewards of the prairie path - a resource now used by cyclists, joggers, dog walkers, bird-watchers and railway historians - have been celebrating the 60th anniversary of that letter. But cyclists say there's still a major gap in the regional trail system: an uninterrupted, north-south corridor through central DuPage County.
Though some bits and pieces have been built over time, a citizens group has long advocated for a continuous trail roughly parallel to the east branch of the DuPage River. Volunteers have organized petition drives and bike tours, displayed yard signs and met with elected officials to line up support for trail construction.
In the latest sign of progress, the county's transportation department will advance a preliminary engineering study for a 4-mile section of the East Branch DuPage River Trail. U.S. Rep. Sean Casten secured $1.2 million in federal funding for the engineering work.
The county is providing $300,000 as a local match for the funds. The study is expected to begin in January and take between 24 and 30 months to complete.
"Our goal, of course, is to improve safety by connecting trail users to local and regional attractions, including downtowns, the DuPage County Forest Preserve, parks and the Morton Arboretum, just to name a few," DuPage County Board Chairwoman Deborah Conroy said.
A volunteer group called the Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail has pushed for the trail project to link forest preserves from Churchill Woods near Glen Ellyn to Hidden Lake near Downers Grove. Further south, there is no easy way to ride a bike to the arboretum without sharing the road with cars on busy Route 53.
In a statement earlier this year, the Friends highlighted the environmental, recreational and economic development benefits of a new regional trail.
"It will connect disparate parks for hikers and bicyclers, improve property values, connect communities, increase pedestrian and nonmotorized travel safety, reduce carbon emissions for folks who prefer not to travel by car, improve mental and physical health of residents and allow citizens better access to natural areas, in addition to providing safe off-street access to area schools for those who prefer not to arrive by automobile," the statement read.
Rep. Casten, a Downers Grove Democrat, presented a symbolic check for the $1.2 million to county officials last week. Casten sought the grant as one of his "community project funding" requests, also known as earmarks.
"The best of these community development projects, these funds we're able to issue, are ones where you've got grass-roots support and a need in the community, and holy smokes, do you have a lot of grass-roots support for this project," Casten said.
The federal funds are distributed through the Illinois Department of Transportation. County staffers have been working with the state and anticipate bringing an agreement to a November county board meeting to authorize the expenditure so the study may begin.
Some Glen Ellyn residents have raised concerns about where the trail would go and the potential loss of trees. North of Roosevelt Road, the proposed trail would generally follow the river west of I-355.
But south of Roosevelt Road, officials have not identified a preferred route. With the federal funding, officials hope to evaluate in greater detail route options generally between Route 53 to the west and the east branch of the DuPage River, said Mary Ozog, chair of the county board's transportation committee.
"Looking at the big picture, the trail connects people to forest preserves, parklands, and other recreational amenities that are currently disconnected from the regional trail network," Ozog said. "In addition, there are some significant barriers to bicycle and pedestrian mobility such as the Union Pacific Railroad and multiple state highways."
The prairie path runs east-west through the heart of the county. A north-south trail was first conceptualized decades ago as an off-street path west of I-355.