Lake Cook Road Bike Path Plans To Be Unveiled At Public Meeting

WAUKEGAN, IL — Lake County transportation officials are due to share details later this month of two alternatives for a mile-long shared use path along the north side of Lake Cook Road.

The project will connect the end of the Skokie Valley Path with the entrance to the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the city of Highland Park and the village of Northbrook.

The path is being placed on the north side of the road because much of the south side of Lake Cook Road in the project area is part of the Cook County Forest Preserve-owned Chicago Botanic Garden property and protected by a federal environmental law requiring that all feasible alternatives be evaluated to avoid adverse effects.

During bike counts conducted by the Lake County Division of Transportation, or LCDOT, in September 2022, at various locations.

They showed 1,310 users at the Green Bay Trail/Robert McClory/North Branch Trail intersection, 650 users west of the Braeside Metra Station on the North Branch Trail, 674 users north of the Braeside Metra Station on the Robert McClory Trail and 626 users north of Clavey Road on the Skokie Valley Trail.

That comes out to about 20 cyclists and 20 pedestrians every day heading east-west — compared to about 30,000 cars every day.

If the connection between the Skokie Valley Bike Path and the North Branch Trail is improved for riders, county transportation staffers expect those numbers to rise.

A public meeting to discuss the project is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. May 30 at the Bernard Weinger JCC, 300 Revere Drive in Northbrook.

As part of the ongoing Phase 1 feasibility study, officials will present two alternative paths that emerged from an earlier concept study.

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According to the LCDOT, design engineering should be complete by the end of 2025, with construction possible as soon as 2026, depending on funding, land acquisition and project readiness.

"The preferred alternative will be selected by the Lake County Division of Transportation, in coordination with Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Chicago Botanic Garden/Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and local municipalities after considering the public feedback and engineering analyses completed through this Phase I study," according to transportation officials.

The Lake Cook Road bike lane project is separate from a plan to build a bridge over Lake Cook Road and extend the Skokie Valley Bike Path in Cook County.

The Cook County Department of Transportation is the lead agency on that project, which has entered "phase two" and had been tentatively scheduled to begin in last year.