This post has already been read 1280 times!
L-R: Winfield Village President Erik Spande,
Forest Preserve District Commissioner Al Murphy, Forest Preserve District President Joe Cantore and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Deputy Executive Director of Communications and Outreach Tom Garritano
Officials of several local and regional agencies celebrated the groundbreaking for construction of a 3-mile segment of the West DuPage River Trail in Winfield, Illinois, on Tuesday, September 13.
Back in 2006, Winfield Village President Erik Spande said, a group of residents, inspired by the Naperville Riverwalk, concluded that Winfield ought to build a riverwalk, too. Learning that the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County was already interested in constructing a portion of the West Branch DuPage River Trail, but on the west bank of the river, the Winfield advocates convinced the County to use the east bank, Spande said, “and take it right to downtown Winfield to connect the trail to the people, the Metra station, and find all sorts of advantages and make the trail system more advantageous.”
Expected to be completed in 2017, the stretch of multi-use trail will connect Winfield Mounds and West DuPage Woods Forest Preserves through downtown Winfield and help to ultimately complete a 23-mile West Branch DuPage River Trail extending from the North Central DuPage Regional Trail in Hanover Park to the I&M Canal Trail near Channahon in Will County.
Village officials worked with DuPage County and the Forest Preserve of DuPage County to meet the $2.9 million cost of the project, to be supported by $2.2 million in federal funds through grants from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) and the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) administered by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and $184,000 from the village of Winfield; and $538,000 from the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s construction development and bond funds.
Village officials envision the trail as a destination for Winfield and a draw for the Village’s long-term Town Center development project.
“As the region’s comprehensive planning agency CMAP works with partners like the counties, municipalities, other transportation implementing agencies to program millions of federal transportation dollars each year through our Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program and Transportation Alternatives Program,” CMAP’s Deputy Executive Director of Communications and Outreach Tom Garritano said. “So, both of those combined contributed $2.2 million for the trail segment in addition to the village’s $184,000 and $538,000 from the Forest Preserve District.”
“Just an excellent example of inter-jurisdictional cooperation for the benefit of residents of the county and the village,” Garritano, continued.
This post has already been read 1280 times!
Barry Dredze
Latest posts by Barry Dredze (see all)
- Winfield Breaks Ground For Link In Planned 23-Mile DuPage Bike Trail - September 14, 2016
- State Democrats Lead Charge to Merge Forest Preserve and DuPage County Boards - March 17, 2015
- Groups Look to Sustain Clean Water Goals for DuPage County and Downriver - February 21, 2015
