The village of Lincolnwood’s plans to build an overpass bridge that would take pedestrians over Touhy Avenue are moving forward, despite some opposition from neighbors of two nearby condominium buildings.
Village leaders for several years have been pursuing a plan to construct the bridge as part of an overall goal to make Lincolnwood more bike-friendly.
The proposed bridge would connect bikers and runners across busy Touhy Avenue as they travel down the ComEd right-of-way along a mile-long pedestrian/bike path connecting Lincolnwood to Chicago and Skokie.
The Village Board held a public hearing Tuesday, May 5 to gather input on the proposed bridge design, a reddish-colored metal bridge embellished with the village logo, but Trustees struggled to find common ground on the design, which was presented by engineering design firm, Stanley Consultants.
The style of the proposed $3.1–$3.7 million bridge did not go over well with Trustee Jesal Patel, who said he wasn’t impressed by what he described as a “cookie-cutter” look.
Patel suggested the village reconsider one of the four more expensive potential designs that had been eliminated since the last time the bridge plans were discussed during a Village Board meeting in November of last year. One of the pricier designs ran up to $5 million.
“The design is lacking in imagination, it’s extremely generic, and it isn’t representative of Lincolnwood,” Patel said. “Cost is a concern, but if we just look at cost only, Village Hall wouldn’t look like it does. We don’t just want to be the cheap guy across the street from Devon—we want to have an identity and I think this is a good way to do it.”
Residents of Barclay Place and Lincolnwood Suites—two high-rise condo buildings that sit near the bridge’s proposed location off of Touhy Avenue—also had a say, with most objecting to the bridge’s existence altogether, according to public comments made during the board meeting.
Listing concerns about privacy, safety, construction noise and aesthetics, Marilyn Klein and Audrey Schiff of Lincolnwood Suites said they staunchly opposes the bridge.
“We have balconies over there that people use, and we don’t want to have gawkers looking at us—we want privacy,” Schiff said. “We feel the property values will be affected by it.”
Another resident had different sentiments. Dale Wickum said the bridge was long-overdue and that it would help the village become more ‘green.’
“This will go a long way to making us safer,” Wickum said. “Change is hard for some people to accept, but if it wasn’t for change, those condos wouldn’t be there—there have been at least three zoning changes in my lifetime that have allowed those condos to go up.”
The bridge is envisioned by Lincolnwood leaders as the centerpiece of the bike path, which is expected to be completed next spring, and would connect at Chicago’s border with Lincolnwood at the Sauganash Trail at Devon Avenue and would end in Skokie at Lincoln and Jarvis avenues.
Lincolnwood’s section of the bike path would eventually connect to a regional bikeway system that would lead from Chicago all the way up to the Wisconsin border—starting at Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago before connecting in Lincolnwood and winding through Skokie, Glenview, Glencoe, and Northbrook.
“Glenview, Glencoe, and Northbrook are working together to further the connection to this path so that it will end at the state line,” said Ashley Engelmann, director of Public Works for Lincolnwood. “The bridge would provide safe passage to get across Touhy and continue on the path.”
Engelmann added that IDOT officials have said about 40,000 vehicles travel on Lincolnwood’s section of Touhy Avenue per day, making it unsafe for pedestrians.
Lincolnwood Mayor Jerry Turry held firm on the village’s stance to support the construction of the overpass.
“There’s a greater good here, and [the condo residents] aren’t going to convince me otherwise because it will bring tremendous opportunity for people to enjoy the bike paths of this area,” Turry said.
The village has secured grants to fund the majority of the estimated construction costs for the bridge and bike path, but would absorb some of the costs, according to information presented at Village Board meetings.
The Village Board will vote on the design at the next meeting, according to village manager Tim Wiberg, who said the Board will have to vote to either accept the proposed design or tweak it.
“I’ll most likely convene a meeting with Trustee Patel between now and then to try to address his design concerns,” Wiberg said.
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
