Evanston was awarded a second grant of $720,000 from the state of Illinois to fund the reconstruction of a lakefront bike and walking path from Lee Street to Clark Street, state officials announced this month.
The Evanston Parks and Recreation Department received the money through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program, which funds community projects that promote alternative transportation such as biking and hiking trails.
Federal funding is essential for the Lakefront Master Plan to move forward, said Evanston Parks/Forestry and Recreation Department Director Doug Gaynor.
“Those paths haven’t been renovated in probably 30 or 40 years,” Gaynor said. “They’re deteriorated, and they need to be replaced and relocated.”
Evanston’s lakefront renovation project was one of 27 projects chosen out of 332 applicants, all of whom were competing for a slice of $20 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Gov. Pat Quinn announced the grant recipients Sept. 17. Combined with a previous grant of $550,000, the city now has $1.27 million to renovate the lakefront.
Although the specific allocation of funds has not yet been determined, the plan is to create a seamless biking and walking path from Lee Street to Clark Street, about two miles away from Northwestern’s campus.
As part of the project, the current paths will be repaved and widened, and the biking and walking paths will be more clearly separated to create a safer environment for exercisers. The lighting on the trails will also be evaluated.
Construction will begin next spring, but the end date is still unknown, Gaynor said.
Renovating the lakefront will act as a “magnet” to attract more people to the lakefront, said Ald. Jane Grover (7th).
“With the lakefront being one of our best assets, it only makes sense to invest in that asset and use it to generate revenue and build community,” Grover said.
The Lakefront Master Plan is also consistent with the city’s climate action plan because it encourages residents to walk and bike, she said.
Many runners have expressed concerns about the current condition of the trails, including Grover herself. Every Friday morning, she runs four miles from the Sports Pavilion Aquatic Center to Kedzie Street and said the uneven asphalt and poor drainage creates unsafe running conditions, especially after heavy rain.
Weinberg sophomore Laura Ruch runs by the lakefront every week and shares Grover’s complaints.
“There would be a lot of really big puddles, and that’s kind of annoying if you’re running when it’s dark out and you can’t see,” Ruch said. “It would just be nicer if it was paved and I wouldn’t have to worry about watching every step.”
The close proximity of the biking and walking paths is also a safety concern, so the new paths will be separated to minimize pedestrian-biker collision.
“I’m sometimes not sure which path is running or biking, so I usually run on both,” Ruch said. “You have to watch where you’re going.”
Ruch said a new and improved trail would provide more incentives for NU students to run along the lakefront.
“I would appreciate it, and all my friends that run would definitely appreciate it,” she said.
Plans for lakefront renovations began in 2006 and will ultimately give NU students and Evanston residents a better space for biking and running, Gaynor said.
“It’s an outstanding project, and it addresses the needs of an awful lot of people,” Gaynor said.
