THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008
Riverwalk Opening June 7?
By TODD WESSELL
Journal & Topics Editor
A ceremonial opening of a downtown stretch of Des Plaines' new Riverwalk will hopefully take place on Saturday, June 7 at around noon, Mayor Tony Arredia said yesterday (Tuesday).
The ceremony, complete with ribbon cutting, will occur in conjunction with the annual downtown Taste of Des Plaines that will be held that weekend. The ceremony will take place in the vicinity of Miner Street and the river.
Located at the Miner Street bridge and the Des Plaines River, the stretch of Riverwalk consists of a paved trail and floodwall. Work on the chiefly flood control project has been underway for more than a year. In early June, most of the work will be completed with the exception of some landscaping and wall lighting. That segment of the Riverwalk will extend from Rand Road south to Joseph Schwab Drive (Campground Road). It is part of a much larger project that calls for trail improvements in Des Plaines from Golf Road on the north south to Touhy Avenue.
City Council Monday night approved the hiring of an engineering design firm to compile plans for Riverwalk trail improvements from Golf to Touhy, excluding the downtown portion.
Itasca-based Civiltech Engineering, Inc. will be paid $291,779 to perform the work that consists of widening of existing dirt trails within Cook County Forest Preserves. Most of that money is in the form of a federal grant. Actual construction is expected to begin in 2009.
According to Arredia, when the June 7 ceremony takes place, bicyclists who want to use the new trail and travel on existing trails to the north and south can do so even though final development is more than a year off.
The trail, once improved, will become known as Des Plaines' Riverwalk where other improvements will evolve including the posting of signs to identify points of interest. It will also link with planned improvements at the "5 Corners" intersections of Rand and River roads where a new history campus may be located. There, proponents are hoping to build a new Des Plaines Historical Society museum and to work with McDonald's Corp. to develop a McDonald's museum on the site of the hamburger giant's original location.
Besides bicyclists, hikers and horseback riders will be able to use the trail/Riverwalk.