Spurred into action: The long-awaited Weber Spur Trail looks like it will finally become a thing

For Northwest Side and north-suburban bike advocates, the proposed segment of the Weber Spur Trail between Elston and Devon avenues in Chicago has been a Holy Grail. It’s a missing infrastructure link that residents have lobbied for for many years. But now it appears it will finally become a reality.

At a community meeting last night at Northeastern Illinois University in North Park, Chicago Department of Transportation staffers discussed the plan for the long-awaited off-street path section.

In a move similar to how the Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606, was created on the Near Northwest Side, the Weber Spur rail-to-trails plan is to convert existing Union Pacific railroad right-of-way into a multi-use trail. This would connect Chicago’s bike network with the Cook County off-street path system.

According to the planners, the new trail segment will improve access to LaBaugh Woods, numerous Chicago parks, various neighborhoods and ‘burbs, and the central business district. they also say the Spur will serve as part of a 34-mile path loop including Chicago, Lincolnwood, Skokie, Glencoe, and Evanston.

Routes the new section will link include bike lanes on Chicago’s Elston Avenue; the North Branch Trail; the Union Pacific Trail in Lincolnwood; the Sauganash / Valley Line Trail; and the Grand Illinois Trail.

The project will convert the two-mile, 40-100-feet-wide UP corridor, which runs southwest-northeast. 15 trail access points will be built, which will involve stairs, ramps, and retaining walls. In addition, four bridge need to be rehabbed, including spans overs Peterson Avenue, the North Branch of the Chicago River, Foster Avenue and Elston. Three at-grade crossings will be developed at Devon, Pulaski Road, Bryn Mawr, and the North Branch Trail.

Planning for the Weber Spur has been going on since 2015. The past 11 years have included negotiations with Union Pacific to abandon the corridor, environmental studies, and preliminary engineering.

The project is still currently in Phase 1: Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Impact Study. Phase Two: Detailed Engineering is slated to begin in summer 2027. Phase III: Construction isn’t scheduled yet.

The initiative involves three types of land aquisition. These include railroad abandonment and railbanking, expected to take 1.5 years; fee simple acquisition; and temporary easements of private property, typically to allow for driveway construction or grading.

The access points for the project are Devon, Rosemont Avenue, Pulaski, Glenlake Avenue, Peterson, Tripp Avenue, Bryn Mawr Avenue, the North Branch Trail, Foster, and Elston.

The presentation went over aerial renderings of different parts of the trail. Here the Bryn Mawr access, including some interesting-looking roundabouts.

After the presentation, the reaction of the attendees to the Weber Spur plan was overwhelmingly positive. (That evening, some neighbors also complained about the recently installed Bryn Mawr Avenue protected bike lanes, which had nothing directly to do with that night’s public hearing.)

“The trail is a fantastic idea,” Lisa Stringer told Streetsblog. She said she also showed up for an earlier community meeting on the project. “It gets people up and away from traffic. There’s a lot of traffic along Elston. That would be just a clear shot for people to make it all the way through and not have to cross Elston or Foster. There’s times of the day I won’t walk my dogs to cross Elston. I put them in the car and drive them, because I don’t feel it’s safe.”

Lisa’s friend Terri agreed that it’s high time for the new trail to be built. However she added that she wants “the developers to talk to the [residents of] the adjacent houses, and get their input on how the project will affect them.”

Ari Levitan said that while it might be a good idea to revive the railway for public transportation purposes, building the trail “it’s a great way to improve connectivity. It’ll probably be a few more years, at least, until it’s ready. But at least it’s somewhat usable, even in its current state.”

Another resident, Ben, who has lived in the area for three years, first discovered the deserted railroad embankment Weber Spur corridor while exploring the neighborhood. While he acknowledged that slow timeline hasn’t been ideal, he said he’s “just glad that this is moving forward after so many years.” He added that the former rail route “has the full length that they would need from Elston to Bryn Mawr and beyond. I’m reasonably confident it’s going to happen.”

Check out a Bluesky thread on the event by Chicago, Bike Grid Now! organizer Nik Hunder.

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