The bridge spanning Lake Cook Road extending the Skokie Valley Bike Path into Cook County is scheduled for construction in 2018.
Expansion of the Skokie Valley Bike Path in Lake Bluff, Lake Forest and Highland Park south to Skokie is moving closer to reality.
Area residents got their first public look at plans to build a bicycle bridge over Lake Cook Road from Highland Park into Northbrook and an extension of the path through Northbrook to the Northfield village limit at an open house November 29 at the Highland Park Police Station.
There will be another open house from 5 to 7 p.m. December 14 at the Northbrook Village Hall.
The project is a joint effort with the Lake and Cook Counties as well as the villages of Northbrook, Northfield, Wilmette and Glenview, according to Matt Emde, a civil engineer with the Lake County Division of Transportation and the project manager for the Lake County portion.
Emde said the trail runs from its intersection with the North Shore Bike Path going east and west along Highway 176 in Lake Bluff to Lake Cook Road roughly following Highway 41. The Lake County portion of the expansion is a $1.3 million bridge spanning Lake Cook Road.
Once cyclists cross the bridge southbound, they will continue on a path transversing Northbrook, according to Jim Baxa, the village’s civil and special projects engineer. He said a new path will be built from Lake Cook to Dundee Road where it will merge with an existing trail to Voltz Road.
“The (existing) path will be widened,” said Baxa. “It is now eight feet wide and it will be 10 feet wide. Riders will be directed by sign on surface streets to Happ Road.” After reaching Happ, the riders will be able to follow striped bike lanes to the Northfield village limit.
Construction Projected for 2018
Emde said the project is in its initial engineering stages to determine its feasibility before detailed plans are drawn next year with construction expected in 2018. He said he hopes Lake County and Northbrook can build their ends of the project simultaneously. The planning for Northfield, Wilmette and Glenview is not as far along.
“It will take one construction season. The bridge is prefabricated,” said Emde. Interference with automobile traffic will be minimal. “We’ll probably do it at night, not during rush hour. It will take a day or two at most,” he added referring to the time there will be blockage on Lake Cook.
Baxa said calculating the cost for the Northbrook portion of the project is less certain until a more detailed engineering study is done along with a thorough survey next year.
“We don’t know how many trees will have to be moved,” said Baxa. “There are a lot of variables. We need to get surveyors out there marking each tree and each manhole.”
When the entire project is done, riders will be able to start near the Wisconsin state line going south on U.S. Bike Route 37 until it merges into the Robert McClory Bike Path in North Chicago. That path, which continues south roughly paralleling Sheridan Road, connects to the North Shore path. Once on the Skokie Valley trail, cyclists will be able to ride to Dempster Street in Skokie near the CTA rapid transit terminal.
Timing of construction in Northfield, Wilmette and Glenview Is Less Certain
Both Emde and Baxa said that timing of the part of the project from Northfield to Skokie is less certain. The idea for the Cook County extension began in talks between the four villages, according to Doug Gerleman, a Northbrook resident and avid cyclist who chaired a bicycle task force there starting in 2004.
“This started as a four village effort,” said Gerleman. “We wanted to find ways to open up more bike trails and connect with (the path) in Skokie. It will open things up from Wisconsin to the Skokie Swift,” he added referring to the CTA line running from Skokie to Howard Street in Chicago.
One reason Northbrook and Lake County want to work together is to file a joint application for federal funding to pay for 80 percent of the project, according to Emde. He said Lake County has the money for the project regardless.
Though a portion of the path in Northbrook, Northfield and Glenview runs close to the Forest Preserve trail going from the Chicago Botanic Garden to Petersen Avenue in Chicago, Gerleman said the Skokie Valley route is closer to shopping and work centers.
“This will be a valuable new commuter route,” said Gerleman. “This is a lot more convenient to places where people work. It’s also easier for those who want it for recreation.”
Highland Park City Councilwoman Kim Stone, who was at the open house, said she is a bike enthusiast who thinks the bridge and trail extension will be good for the community.
“This is good for commuting, which is important,” said Stone. “There is a lot of commuter traffic on the trail now. People have told us they will use it (more with the bridge) to get to work.”
Gerleman said additional bicycle trails have a positive environmental impact. He said it will help get people out of their cars and traveling in more ecological friendly ways.
“We want to give people an alternative to fossil fuel burning vehicles,” Said Gerleman.