Sustainable Chicago Winter 2011 : Page 16
SUSTAINABLE CHICAGOWinter 2011 timeline of the project’s com-pletion. Structural engineering firm ARUP, notable for the “Water Cube” at the 2008 Bei-jing Olympics, will design the trail and gather public input throughout the process. They will inventory the conditions of the bridges, perform environ-mental impact studies and make construction plans. Their work is expected to be completed in 2012. The initial plan calls for the trail to begin near the Mc-Cormick Tribune YMCA, with Logan Square to the north and Humboldt Park to the south, and run east through Buck-town and Wicker Park before ending at the Chicago River. The trail would also con-NABLE CHICAGOWinter 2011 timeline of the project’s com-pletion. Structural engineering firm ARUP INABLE CHICAGOWinter 2011 timeline of the project’s com-pletion. Structural engineering firm ARUP, notable for the “Water Cube” at the 2008 Bei-jing Olympics, will design the trail and gather public input throughout the process. They will inventory the conditions of the bridges, perform environ-mental impact studies and make construction plans. Their work is expected to be completed in 2012. The initial plan calls for the trail to begin near the Mc-Cormick Tribune YMCA, with Logan Square to the north and Humboldt Park to the south, and run east through Buck-town and Wicker Park before ending at the Chicago River. The trail would also con-entry entry points for the trail. Still, much of the Bloomingdale’s appeal comes in its elevated portion, which would allow for pedestrians and bikers to travel throughout the area without stopping for any traffic lights. Alderman Roberto Mal-donado (26th) lives within walking distance of the trail. As an advocate of the plan, he plans to do his weekly runs on it when it opens. “I would like it done tomorrow, if I could,” said Maldonado. “It’s a won-derful and different level of open space.” However, not all residents are as excited about the proj-ect. Longtime Bucktown resi-dent Joan Fox, whose house is feet from the corridor, remem-INABLE CHICAGOWinter 2011 timeline of the project’s com-pletion. Structural engineeri NABLE CHICAGOWinter 2011 timeline of the project’s com-pletion. Structural engineering firm ARUP, notable for the “Water Cube” at the 2008 Bei-jing Olympics, will design the trail and gather public input throughout the process. They will inventory the conditions of the bridges, perform environ-mental impact studies and make construction plans. Their work is expected to be completed in 2012. The initial plan calls for the trail to begin near the Mc-Cormick Tribune YMCA, with Logan Square to the north and Humboldt Park to the south, and run east through Buck-town and Wicker Park before ending at the Chicago River. The trail would also con-entry points for the trail. Still, much of the Bloomingdale’s appeal comes in its elevated portion, which would allow for pedestrians and bikers to travel throughout the area without stopping for any traffic lights. Alderman Roberto Mal-donado (26th) lives within walking distance of the trail. As an advocate of the plan, he plans to do his weekly runs on it when it opens. “I would like it done tomorrow, if I could,” said Maldonado. “It’s a won-derful and different level of open space.” However, not all residents are as excited about the proj-ect. Longtime Bucktown resi-dent Joan Fox, whose house is feet from the corridor, remem-claims claims that all this publicity about the trail has brought nothing but an influx in users and crime with vagrants to the area. Her neighbors said that their buildings have been tagged with graffiti, rocks have thrown through windows and they have experienced several break-ins. “Three feet away, you can hear them snoring,” Fox said. “I didn’t really want them liv-ing right against my house and making music into the morning hours and going to the bathroom outside my children’s window.” Fox said she will support the project if the concerns of those who live along the trail are taken into account. “The idea is great; it’s just how will Continued on p. 27 www.Sustainable-Chicago.com 16 Payton Chung
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