Bloomingdale Trail
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Video: Police on Noisy ATVs Have Begun to Invade the Bloomingdale Trail
As I discussed last week, the 14th Police District’s plan to patrol the Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606, on all-terrain vehicles makes no sense. They have virtually no benefits over patrolling the path by bicycle, since bike are much more maneuverable (a huge advantage when the trail is crowded), cycles with saddlebags have almost as much carrying capacity, they don't burn gas, and they provide healthy physical activity for the officers. Even the potential speed advantage of the ATVs isn’t much of an issue since the trail is less than three miles long.
April 14, 2017
New Wayfinding Signs on The 606 Are Also Needed for On-Street Routes
Last month, colorful new wayfinding signs were installed near all of the access ramps for The 606, aka the Bloomingdale Trail. They point trail users to the nearest off-ramp and access park. The relatively small text on the signs is a little tricky to read if you're cycling past them at a moderate pace, but they're a welcome addition to the trail. They'll help people become more familiar with the street names in the four neighborhoods the elevated greenway passes through.
December 24, 2015
606 Ambassadors Will Help Make the Bloomingdale Trail Safer and More Fun
For two weeks now, 16 young adults have been walking back and forth on the Bloomingdale Trail, talking to trail users about the features of The 606 trail-and-park system, and providing etiquette tips. The new 606 Ambassadors come from neighborhoods near the trail, including West Humboldt Park and Austin.
August 25, 2015
A Look at Two Big Chicagoland Trail Projects: The Bloomingdale and Cal-Sag
The Trust for Public Land’s Beth White is a petite woman with a light southern accent, despite the fact that she’s lived much of her life in here in Chicago. She hands me an oversized white hardhat and an orange safety vest, and we walk a couple of blocks from a construction office through the December gloom to the worksite for the Bloomingdale Trail, also known as The 606. This 2.7-mile elevated trail and linear park is slated to open in June. When it does, it’s certain to become one of the Windy City’s signature public spaces.
April 3, 2015
CMAP Seeks Its Own Dedicated Tax For Transit, Green Infrastructure
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning last week floated its own proposal to fix the region's shortfall in transportation funding. It launched FUND 2040, a campaign calling upon the Illinois legislature to fund sustainable infrastructure through a quarter-cent sales tax across the Chicagoland region. CMAP says this increase would generate $300 million annually, which it would use to advance projects that fulfill the goals of its federally-required plan for the region, GO TO 2040.
November 19, 2014
New Development, Investment Anticipates Future Bloomingdale Trail
The Bloomingdale Trail is attracting new investment along its length, including the construction of new multi-family and single-family housing. The blocks bracketing the multi-use path and adjacent parks (collectively known as the 606) saw less construction than their wider neighborhoods during the 2008-2009 recession -- but now construction is picking up. Investors and developers are confidently saying that the 606 will not just be a great amenity for their customers, but a crucial transportation link as well.
November 17, 2014
3 Big CDOT Projects Have Been Postponed, But the Delays Are Reasonable
In early June, I dubbed this the Summer of the Big Projects. The Chicago Department of Transportation was planning to start construction on, and/or complete, a slew of major infrastructure jobs this year. Now it seems more like the Summer of the Big Postponements.
July 18, 2014
Eyes on the Street: Construction on the Bloomingdale Trail
Yesterday, Steven and I got a sneak peek at construction on the Bloomingdale Trail on a walking tour led by Jamie Simone from the Trust for Public Land, which is managing the elevated trail and linear park project for the city and the park district.
June 26, 2014
A Blank Slate: Wells St. Extension Can Embody CDOT’s New Values
The Chicago Department of Transportation has a rare clean-slate opportunity to design a Street of Dreams -- a street that incorporates many leading-edge safety features. That opportunity is phase three of their Wells-Wentworth Connector between Chinatown and the South Loop, a future southward extension of Wells Street that longtime South Loop resident Dennis McClendon calls "Riverside Boulevard."
May 30, 2014