Update! Support the North Branch Trail Extension

With the new Cook County Commissioner redistricting, the Old Edgebrook neighborhood now falls into Commissioner Bridget Gainer's district. She has received letters from the Edgebrook Community Association and the neighbors of Old Edgebrook to put pressure to stop the trail extension. Construction is scheduled to begin November 30, 2015 and we need Commissioner Gainer to hear from supporters of the trail. Please consider calling or writing Commissioner Gainer an email stating your support, what the trail means to you and if you live in her district. It’s okay if you don’t live in her district, but it’s important to hear from the district constituents if they are supporters, find the district map here. Email her at Info@BridgetGainer.com or call her office at (312) 603-4210 to share your support of the trail extension. Please forward this email to fellow trail supporters.

 

Thank you for your help and support! Hopefully this time next year I will be seeing you at the trail ribbon cutting. 

Not familiar with the project? Check it out here. 

Thank you!!!!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Harry Lee on November 6, 2015 at 7:13am

Yikes! Bad enough the extension had to be broken into two phases due to cost, but it would truly suck if it didn't happen at all. I've emailed and tweeted the commissioner- it would probably be a good idea to bring this to the attention of Active Trans and Streetsblog, too. 

Permalink Reply by Kindy Kruller on November 6, 2015 at 7:22am
Thanks Harry, great suggestion for looping in Active Trans and Streetsblog. I should have added that funding has been received for Phase 2!
Permalink Reply by Harry Lee on November 6, 2015 at 8:36am

Did not know that funding for Phase 2 was approved- great news and all the more reason to take action!

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on November 6, 2015 at 8:36am

For those of us unfamiliar with the project or the politics, can you provide a little background? Is this it?

http://fpdcc.com/downloads/FPCC-NB-Trail-South-Proposed-Trail-Align...

I ride the North Branch Trail from time-to-time, but just north-south, and never get much further west than California. If Google Maps' outline of Old Edgebrook is accurate, that's a pretty small tail to be wagging a very large dog.

Permalink Reply by Eli on November 6, 2015 at 10:50am

Thank you for posting this. I called just now and the staffer mentioned that they have received two emails today (in support, I think).

Permalink Reply by The Korn on November 6, 2015 at 5:59pm
Would help if a summary of the "against" position was available. Hard to refute an unknown argument.
Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on November 7, 2015 at 3:46am

The objections are coming from about 55 homeowners in the Old Edgebrook neighborhood.  It a typical NIMBY argument.  There are only two streets - Lousie and Prescott - leading into this isolated neighborhood.  The path will go down the west side of Central and cross these two streets.  Crossing Central to move the path to the east side isn't practical and was thoroughly explored in early studies.

Here's a picture: http://fpdcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/FPCC-NBTSE-louise_presc...

There were several meetings at the clubhouse and neighborhood center, and these were a lot of people of both sides of the issue.  Fortunately, a lot of bicycles showed up to support this extension.

Thanks, Kindy, for posting this so we can follow up on it and show our support to the Cook County Forest Preserve District.

Permalink Reply by Kindy Kruller on November 7, 2015 at 4:05am
Thanks Bob!
Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on November 7, 2015 at 1:18pm

Bob, thanks for posting this. The visual is very helpful. 

Permalink Reply by Duppie on November 8, 2015 at 12:14pm

Thanks Bob. I know you have been following this for years and attended these meetings. I value your opinion.

Permalink Reply by Petra Blix on November 7, 2015 at 9:11am
This information is incorrect.

The Old Edgebrook neighborhood is not opposed to a bike trail extension. They are opposed to the bike trail crossing the only two streets in and out of the neighborhood for safety reasons. They have asked that the segment across those two streets be reviewed and that alternate routes be considered.

The current route will require bike riders to cross Devon, stop at Louise and Prescott, and stop again for the traffic light at Central.

The Edgebrook Community is also not opposed to the bike trail but asked Commissioner Gainer for a public and transparent review of community concerns regarding safety issues. There was no community input before the trail design was finalized and the trail was moved from the east side of Central to the west side after the bike extension had been finalized. This was done without any community outreach or notice.

We believe in the democratic process where the community has a seat at the table and where no one is excluded in participating.

Petra M Blix

http://fpdcc.com/preserves-and-trails/plans-and-projects/north-bran...
Permalink Reply by Harry Lee on November 7, 2015 at 9:24am
I recall several meetings where public feedback was invited before and after the move to the western side of Central. In fact, I recall the residents proposing an alternate route after the east side was deemed unfeasible that basically consisted of painting some bike lanes on side streets instead of having a connected trail. Given the choice between that and stopping again for a traffic light on Centra (via a 'beg button'), I'll take the western side of Central- I've seen no compelling that this will cause any safety issues for cyclists or motorists.

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