Home News Business Sports Entertainment Travel Health Opinion Real Estate Cars Jobs Deals Cityscapes RSS >> About this blog Cityscapes >> About Blair Kamin A DAILY CHICAGO JOURNAL ABOUT THE BUILDINGS AND URBAN SPACES THAT SHAPE OUR LIVES BY BLAIR KAMIN | E-mail | About | RSS « A shout-out to the C.A.D.--read on to find out what that means | Main | Mr. Justice Breyer talks about judging architecture's top prize » October 05, 2011 Bloomingdale Trail close to securing major federal funding Like 20 likes. Sign Up to see what your friends like. Share | For years, park advocates have dreamed of turning a dormant railroad line on Chicago's Northwest Side into an elevated park that would stretch for nearly 3 miles and include a bike trail. VIDEO Now, that vision seems closer than ever to reality. City officials on Tuesday night said they are on the verge of securing millions of dollars in federal funding for the project, which is called the Bloomingdale Trail. When state and local matches are figured in, the total would top $46 million. "It's real money," said Janet Attarian, a project director for the Chicago Department of Transportation following a presentation of design alternatives for the project at the McCormick Tribune YMCA at 1834 N. Lawndale Avenue. "This is obviously a huge leap forward for the project." Indeed, after years of delays, planners think that construction on the project's first phase could begin in 2013 and be completed in late 2014. At a minimum, that phase would include a bike trail because the project would be made possible through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program, or LAST 10 POSTS CMAQ, which supports efforts that lower pollution and provide relief from traffic • A lecture on Chicago's movable bridges congestion. Later phases would add other features to the project. • Fresh face: Columbia College plans a digital makeover The federal funds would require a 20 percent state and local match for an overall total of for Michigan Avenue high-rise; plan will echo old facade while expressing new sustainable design $46.275 million, Attarian said. • DeStefano Partners splitting in two, a partner of the firm says; building bust hurt, and firm also blaming Public They would be used for a combination of infrastructure and site improvements on the dormant Building Commission rail line, which was constructed from 1913 to 1915 and slices on an east-west path through the • 'Bertrand Goldberg: Reflections' gets a longer run at the neighborhoods of Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Wicker Park and Bucktown. The line is raised Arts Club; show's designers will host open house on Dec. 17 feet above street level and has 35 viaducts. 17 • Cityscapes visits New York; a book talk on 'Terror and The board of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning will vote Oct. 12 whether to grant its Wonder' final approval to the project, said Luann Hamilton, a CDOT deputy commissioner. If no hitches • In Lexington, Ky., a developer waves bye-bye to Jeanne Gang occur at the federal level, design and engineering work could begin, she said. • From XXL to S: Chicago architecture awards recognize excellence at a variety of scales On Wednesday, plans for the trail gathered further momentum as Mayor Rahm Emanuel • Art Institute, Arup engineers reach agreement in introduced legislation to the City council that would create a ground-level entry point to the trail. principle to settle legal fight over Modern Wing Under the legislation, the city would sell roughly a third of an acre at 1799-1805 N. Milwaukee • Pritzker Architecture Prize ceremonies head to China to the Chicago Park District for $1. The district would then develop the two-parcel property as a • A dream for parks over Chicago's expressway trench: public park. Visionary, but probably a budget-buster This summer, the district opened such an entry point park at Albany and Whipple streets. CATEGORIES At Tuesday night's meeting, the team of designers working on the project's conceptual phase-- • Aqua the engineering firm Arup, Chicago architect Carol Ross Barney and representatives of New • Architectural compensation York landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh--discussed the history of the trail, ideas • Architectural education that residents expressed during two days of workshops last weekend, and alternatives for the • Architecture rail line's future. • Architecture awards • Architecture books One of the designers said the project had the potential to be a "lifted landscape where you're • Architecture bookshops • Architecture business traveling through on a magic carpet." • Architecture competitions • Architecture criticism A key tension to resolve: The bike path must be at least 12 feet wide, leaving only 18 feet of • Architecture events width for other uses. Some residents expressed concern about conflicts between bicyclists and • Architecture exhibitions converted by Web2PDFConvert.com • Architecture exhibitions pedestrians, like those that regularly plague the lakefront bike trail. But the weekend sessions • Architecture films produced consensus that the trail would prioritize the pedestrian's experience over the speed of • Architecture lectures the cyclist, the designers said. • Architecture magazines • Architecture on television_ The bike trail could be straight or curved, and it could split into paths for bikers and • Architecture panel discussions • Architecture tours pedestrians. It could dip beneath the railroad line's current level or rise higher. Dipping would • Art Institute of Chicago Modern Wing make it easier for people to climb up to the trail from access points. Making the trail higher • Barack Obama and architecture would create views of the trail's surroundings, which include home and factories. Art would • Barack Obama and urban policy_ signal entrances to the trail. • Block 37 • Bridges Security and the trail's hours are another issue. While the park is supposed to provide a respite • Building safety and security from the city, it's also supposed to be as safe as a typical Chicago park. People who live along • Burj Dubai • Burnham Plan Centennial the trail don't want lights shining in their windows at night. Nor do they want to be kept awake • California wildfires of 2009 by noise coming from the trail. • Campus buildings • Casino architecture Hamilton said that inspections of the rail line's viaducts have revealed almost all of them to be • Chicago architecture structurally sound. One or two might need to be replaced, she said. but the absence of the • Chicago Architecture Foundation need for major structural work would remove a major hurdle of cost and time to the project. • Chicago Children's Museum in Grant Park • Chicago Humanities Festival The line is owned by the Canadian Pacific railroad. • Chicago landmarks law • Chicago river walk The presence of a bike trail would make the Bloomingdale Trail different from New York's High • Chicago riverfront Line, a linear park built on an old elevated line in Lower Manhattan, or an elevated park in Paris • Chicago Spire that predates the New York project. • Chicago's lakefront • Church architecture • Cultural buildings • Current Affairs • Daley Bicentennial Plaza • Design • Engineering • Engineering awards • Evanston Fountain Square tower • Flood of 2008 • Flood of 2008_ • Frank Lloyd Wright • Green architecture • Health care architecture • High-speed rail • Historic Preservation • Home design • Hotels Posted at 10:06:08 AM • Infrastructure • Interior design_ • Landmarks • Landscape architecture RECOMMENDED FOR YOU FROM AROUND THE WEB • Lectures Pritzker Architecture Prize ceremonies head Unthinkable Poised to Happen on Wall Street. • Legal challenge to Chicago landmark law to China (The Skyline) See Disturbing Charts. (Newsmax.com) • Millennium Park • Museums Fresh face: Columbia College plans a digital 7 Crazy Houses: Which One Would You Live In? • New York architecture makeover for Michigan Avenue high-rise; plan (HouseLogic) • Norman Foster will echo old facade while expressing new Around the World: Creepy Places (Away.com) • Obama stimulus package sustainable design (The Skyline) • Obituaries A lecture on Chicago's movable bridges (The 9 Things Not to Say to a Coworker (Man of the • Observation decks House) • Olympics Skyline) • Parking garages (MoneyNing) Herman Cain on a date (Chicago Tribune) 7 Habits of Highly Frugal People • Parks • Performances in landmark buildings Quality vs. quantity (Chicago Tribune) [what's this] • Professional news • Public housing • R. Buckminster Fuller Comments • Regional planning • Rem Koolhaas You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. • School architecture • Science • Sears Tower name change • Skyscrapers It seems to me that 18 feet left over after giving 12 feet to a bike lane would be able to • Sports • Stadiums accommodate pedestrians, joggers, handicapped and others. Why is this a "key tension to • Stimulus package resolve"? • Structural Engineering • Suburban office buildings BK: Eighteen feet is not particularly wide. There was clearly tension in the air at Tuesday night's • Sustainable architecture meeting over this issue. • Tear-down houses • The flaneur Posted by: Robert Kastigar | October 06, 2011 at 09:37 AM • Transportation • Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago_ • Trump International Hotel & Tower_ • Urban design • Waterview Tower_ Dear Blair: • World Trade Center • World Trade Center reconstruction_ Thank you for reporting on this project. It is very exciting to be part of an unusual and positive • Worst architecture of 2008 reuse of a significant (metaphorically and literally) part of Chicago's industrial history. • Wrigley Field Andrew RECOMMENDED LINKS Posted by: Andrew Vesselinovitch | October 06, 2011 at 02:58 PM • ArchNewsNow.com, news and reviews from around the world • Hugh Pearman, Sunday Times of London • David Dunlap, The New York Times The Bloomingdale presently has enoguh room for two freight trains, but not enough for two paths? • Lynn Becker, ArchitectureChicago PLUS • Edward Lifson, The New Modernist • Steve Litt, Cleveland Plain Dealer Posted by: Nom DePlume | October 07, 2011 at 03:58 PM • Curbed Chicago converted by Web2PDFConvert.com.