New green space takes shape along railroad line in Rosemont

Freshly planted arborvitae, honey locust trees and ornamental grasses are taking root along Higgins Road in Rosemont as part of a community beautification project.

The new greenery is just north of the Rosemont Health & Fitness Center and next to the CN Railway, which provided the village a $8,055 matching grant for the project.

Officials will host a celebration at 9 a.m. Monday to formally unveil the enhanced green space, which was completed in recent weeks.

Employees from Rosemont-based Christopher B. Burke Engineering — which serves as the village’s engineering consultant — donned work gloves and boots as they dug holes and planted dozens of bushes and trees.

The village’s public works department eyed the 20-by-50-foot location — formerly just green grass — because of its proximity to the railroad line.

CN’s EcoConnexions From the Ground Up program, administered in the U.S. by the nonprofit America in Bloom, provides grants to municipalities and organizations to beautify areas along the nearly 20,000-mile North American rail network.

Under the grant parameters, awardees must demonstrate how projects leverage flowers, plants, shrubs and trees to “improve economic vitality, boost civic pride, encourage active enjoyment of the landscape and improve quality of life.” Projects that also contribute to better air and water quality, stormwater benefits, screening, energy conservation and habitat are also favored.

Since 2012, the program has funded 263 projects and contributed to planting approximately 149,190 trees and shrubs in urban and rural communities along the train lines, including nearby Westchester and downstate Swansea, near St. Louis.