With less than a mile to go, DuPage County forest preserve leaders are tantalizingly close to completing a regional trail system years in the making.
Building the final, 0.7-mile segment will put a bow on the West Branch DuPage River Trail. That last piece will provide the missing link between the Blackwell and West DuPage Woods forest preserves.
“It’s just taken diligence and persistence and hard work from the staff and previous boards to finally get this project completed,” Forest Preserve Commissioner Rick Gieser said Tuesday.
It’s also been called the most complicated segment because it includes construction of a bridge that will cross both Roosevelt Road and the West Branch of the DuPage River at the same time.
“We’re providing safe access to explore the DuPage County forest preserves. I think this is going to be a real plus for everyone in the county,” Gieser said.
The project’s construction contract costs $6.9 million. The forest preserve district is paying about $1.4 million of that.
“We did get a lot of federal funding for this project. We started this project in March this year with tree removals, and right now, the construction is anticipated to be done in June of next year,” Engineering Manager Brock Lovelace said.
The district has been navigating the Federal Highway Administration’s requirements through the Illinois Department of Transportation for the project since 2015, Kevin Horsfall, planning and development director, told the forest preserve board last fall.
The project is “very complex,” he said, as it involves work within the flood plain of the West Branch. The bridge also will go “over the river and the road diagonally,” Horsfall said.
The regional trail continues south “all the way down into Naperville, and then that’ll connect into the Will County system as well,” Gieser said. “So this is just a terrific amenity for DuPage County residents and people in District Six, the West Chicago, Winfield area.”
It’s part of a districtwide list of projects getting underway this year or already in progress.
The largest? A new complex to support crews and equipment responsible for the care of natural areas, recreational sites and infrastructure across the forest preserve system. It replaces a hodgepodge of aging and retrofitted structures along Mack Road in Blackwell Forest Preserve.
The total construction contract comes to $36.4 million, and the district expects it will be complete at the end of 2027.
“Beams were just starting to be placed last month. So it’s really starting to take shape,” said Karen Gray, manager of planning.
New recreational amenities also are coming to the Greene Valley Forest Preserve near Naperville, home of a big red barn from the days of the Greene family farm.
The district plans to update the existing picnic shelter, put in a new picnic shelter, install a new, three-season flush washroom building, complete trail improvements and add a kayak launch for access to the East Branch of the DuPage River.
A new gathering spot — a shaded seating area with signage — will be located near the Greene farm barn, an L-shaped structure at Hobson and Greene roads.
The project will also include moving an entrance drive, associated site work, utilities and some more native plantings. The district has budgeted $2.8 million for the project, and anticipates it will take about 15 months, starting this fall.
The conservation agency has been awarded $800,000 in grants through state agencies.
A smaller project will benefit four-legged forest preserve visitors: shade structures in two off-leash dog areas, Hawk Hollow and Oldfield Oaks. Those sites were prioritized for the first set of prefab structures, Gray said, because “they are most lacking in shade.” The district intends to award a contract for the work in August.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260505/news/a-terrific-amenity-last-piece-of-west-branch-dupage-river-trail-includes-bridge-over-roosevelt-ro/