Oak Park nets more state money--
for an Eisenhower overpass

By ERIC LINDEN

The pedestrian overpass that takes Home Avenue over the Eisenhower
Expressway might finally be repaired and given new accessibility for
disabled persons, thanks to yet another state grant coming to Oak Park.

Nestled in $37.9 million in grants to a number of municipal agencies
Monday was $80,000 for village government to improve the Home Avenue
overpass. The improvements are to include curb cuts, a new ramp at the
north end of the overpass, repairs to the south end of the ramp and
repairs to the pavement.

The overpass connects Garfield Street on the south side of the
Eisenhower with Harrison Street on the north side. It is used regularly
by residents who do not have to walk two or three blocks further to
cross the expressway--especially children and other young people who
need quicker access to schools and parks in the area.

The state money comes from programs administered by the Illinois
Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources (IDNR). In addition to the overpass in Oak Park, the
$37.9 million in grants also will be given for 35 improvements to public
property in the Chicago area and in the area near Kankakee, which is
Gov. George Ryan's hometown.

Ryan's office almost daily has been announcing almost for public
improvements like the overpass. The grants mostly come from the
governor's $13 billion Illinois FIRST program, which has funded or will
pay for a number of public improvements in Oak Park, River Forest and
Forest Park. But the grants also include funding from other sources.

oak-park-journal.com reported Oct. 4 that the Illinois FIRST grants in
Oak Park include money for the Children's Museum of Oak Park, to
District 97 for the construction of two new middle schools in Oak Park
and improvement to three other elementary schools, for the new Metra
station built at Marion Street and North Boulevard in Oak Park, for the
restoration and repair of Unity Temple, for restoration of the Ernest
Hemingway birth home at 339 N. Oak Park Ave., for road improvements, for
renovation and expansion of the PCC Community Wellness Center at 14 Lake
St. in Oak Park, and for reconstruction and improvement of two Park
District of Oak Park playgrounds and a swimming pool.

River Forest has or will receive Illinois FIRST funding for
reconstruction of the intersection of Thatcher Avenue and Division
Street, for financial help for the new track and stadium project at
Concordia University and for help fund programs at Chicago Sinfonietta,
the orchestra which partially operates and performs at Dominican
University.

Forest Park has received funding to line sewer mains, for a community
theater program at Living Word Christian at the former Forest Park Mall
and for roadway resurfacing.

The Monday grants through IDOT and IDNR, in addition to the Oak Park
overpass, included the  following amounts for other projects.

* $8.6 million for the City of Chicago to rebuild a historic façade on
Wacker Drive from Lake Street to Michigan Avenue along the Chicago River

* $2.1 million to the City of Chicago to create a new bike trail and
other recreational improvements on the lakefront between Belmont and
Fullerton avenues

* $2 million for the Chicago Park District to acquire five acres of
brownfields along the North Branch of the Chicago River east of the
intersection of Foster Avenue and Pulaski Road, where a wildlife habitat
will be created and the brownfields will be restored ecologically

* $252,000 for the Chicago Park District to improve a bicycle trail,
with lighting and signs, from Coast Guard Drive to Stoney Island Avenue
on the city's South Side

* $200,000 for the Chicago Park District to widen approximately two
miles of the Lakefront Bikeway between 22nd and 39th streets, also on
the South Side

* $200,000 for the City of Chicago to develop under-bridge connections
at Peterson Avenue and Lincoln Avenue with a trail that extends the
existing trail at Legion Park to the Lincoln Village Shopping Center
Riverwalk

* $90,000 for the City of Wilmette to build the Sheridan Road crossing,
a quarter-mile bicycle and pedestrian path along Sheridan Road from
Central Avenue to the North Shore Channel Bridge connecting with
existing paths leading into Gilson Park. The project is to provide a
safe crossing of Sheridan Road and to provide access to the park for
pedestrians and bicyclists.