At the Northfield Village Board’s next Committee of the Whole meeting on October 20, the Board will again consider the possible route options for completing its portion of the Skokie Valley Trail (SVT).   The SVT is a regional biking and walking trail that once completed will stretch from Lake Bluff to the City of Chicago.   Northfield’s stretch of the trail is one of the few links in the SVT that has never been completed.  We hope to make progress with this unfinished project and complete our part of a recreational path that will be a source of fun and exercise for everyone.  

Last year during the SVT’s Phase I study, the Village Board heard extensive public comment and directed staff to shift the path north of Willow Road onto the Union Pacific right-of-way (ROW), ComEd ROW, or other location.  Several route options were reviewed at the August 18 Committee of the Whole meeting, and the discussion was continued to the October 20 Committee of the Whole meeting to review an additional option for a dual path along the eastern edge of the Village-owned ROW for the 800 linear feet of ComEd ROW that is occupied by the Field’s parking lot. This option would leave the “Nature Trail” undisturbed by creating a parallel route for 800 feet, and then shifting back to the ComEd ROW to Tower Road.

This route option and the project in totality will be considered by the Board at our October 20 meeting.  The engineer’s full detailed report and analysis of this route option will be posted here on Tuesday, October 13.

The October 20 Committee of the Whole meeting will take place at 5:30 PM via Zoom videoconference.  (For COVID-19 safety reasons, all Village Board and Commission meetings will be conducted remotely for the foreseeable future).  Log-in information for the Zoom meeting will be posted on the meeting agenda, available here.  Everyone is welcome to attend online and all participants will be given an opportunity to voice their thoughts on the route options.  

You may also share your thoughts by emailing them to the Village Board at vgroup@northfieldil.org.  Emailed comments must be received by 4:30 PM on October 19 so that they can be reviewed by the Board ahead of the meeting and can be included in the public record.