- Credibility:
SOUTH DEERING — Transportation advocates unveiled their plan for a bike and pedestrian path linking a Far South Side natural area with Chicago’s first national park, part of their push for wider improvements to cycling infrastructure.
Leaders with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Active Transportation Alliance, local parks groups and other organizations detailed designs and a feasibility study for a Lake Calumet trail Wednesday.The trail would improve travel between Big Marsh Park with the Pullman National Monument while creating access points for lake visitors.
The preferred trail alignment:
- Begins near the Harborside International Golf Center’s entrance, 11001 S. Doty Ave.;
- Crosses Illinois International Port District property to Lake Calumet;
- Incorporates a bridge across the lake, Norfolk Southern railroad tracks and Stony Island Avenue;
- Ends at Big Marsh Park’s entrance, 11559 S. Stony Island Ave.
The project would cost an estimated $27.1 million. Construction of the trail and related amenities would be $16.2 million and engineering would be $5.2 million, plus $5.7 million for incidentals.
Amenities like a $625,600 kayak area, a $920,000 rest area near the golf course and a $839,000 boat viewing area also are being considered along the proposed trail and bridge.
“There are so many different ways that neighbors would like to use the trail, in terms of making the connection from Pullman to Big Marsh [and] in terms of accessing Lake Calumet,” said Elizabeth Scott, a policy analyst for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. “Creating different opportunities … for this facility to be used is what we heard in the engagement process.”
Credit: ProvidedWith the amenities, the trail project would encourage access to Lake Calumet “in addition to being able to walk and bike along it,” said Tim Gustafson, project manager for the design and engineering firm Epstein.
The project is supported by Rep. Robin Kelly and Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th).
“Around the turn of the century, Lake Calumet … was a popular destination for boating, fishing and hiking,” Sadlowski Garza said. “For far too long, this area has been inaccessible to our residents. This new trail will allow a new generation of neighbors to experience the nature and natural beauty of the lake.”
Credit: Epstein
Credit: EpsteinThe Lake Calumet trail is one part of a larger need to upgrade bike infrastructure and improve access to green space throughout the South Side, said Paul Fitzgerald, executive director of Friends of Big Marsh.
In 2015, the Active Transportation Alliance developed the Big Marsh Access Action Plan, which includes the Lake Calumet trail, improves access to Big Marsh and connects the park — along with its extensive bike paths and tracks — to points of interest like the Major Taylor Trail and Burnham Greenway.
Residents’ participation at Wednesday’s meeting “goes to show how ready so [many] of us are on the South and Southeast sides to see these connections,” Fitzgerald said.
“I’m going to keep repeating those words, ‘South Side bike network,’ until we can really celebrate that it exists,” he said.
For the full Lake Calumet trail feasibility study report, click here. To view Wednesday’s meeting, click here.
Credit: Active Transportation AllianceSubscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.
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