Chicagoâ€™s Elevated Bloomingdale Trail

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The summer of 2013 will share another green new beginning for Chicago, one Americaâ€™sÂ most progressive and conscientiousÂ urban areas. Energetic naturalistic visions of moving about withoutÂ cumbersomeÂ cars will manifest, bringingÂ free-flowing travel forÂ pedestriansÂ andÂ bicyclists. Why? How?Â Because development of the new, elevated Bloomingdale TrailÂ is now underway.

Bloomingdale Trail Final Design

Conscientious Travel by Foot and Bike; Imagination Manifesting

ConstructionÂ officially starts in Summer 2013 forÂ the 3-mile-long, elevated, linear park and trail running route through the heart of Chicago. The trail will connect neighborhoods, the river, and Chicagoâ€™s great park system.
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Built from a former rail line, the BloomingdaleÂ will make Chicagoâ€™s residents healthier, get people to school and work faster, and provide communities with great chances to play and mingle. It will be open to bikers and pedestrians in the fall of 2014, while landscaping work and art installations will continue through 2015.

Biking and walking trails are key to sustainable mobility. So, itâ€™s great to see Chicago implementing such a fun and important project.

Uniquely Planned, theÂ Path Less Found

This Bloomingdale park and trail, viaÂ Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates,Â is one of a considerate and unusual construction, with aÂ raisedÂ landscape and many sought-after views to be experienced by the travelers.

The trail is a new essence and style of park; it is something different for city dwellers and travelers. Once an interurban rail line, now with new life, the Bloomingdale intersects multiple communities along Bloomingdale Avenue, is directly adjacent to many privately owned buildings, and passes over major vehicular arterials, an historic boulevard, bus and bicycle routes, and the CTA Blue Line.

What was, what is, and what will soon come to pass: aÂ 3-mile-long elevated linear park and trail running through theÂ heart of Chicago.