The Skokie Valley Trail is a rail-trail that is a total of . It's a partial

shared-use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, Bridle path, bridleways and ra ...

for

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an " inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults o ...

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

, and

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. The trail currently has two sections, the first is the north branch of the trail, which starts at Rockland Road in Lake Bluff and extends south to Lake Cook Road in Northbrook. The southern portion of Skokie Valley Trail begins at Dempster-Skokie CTA Station and extends to Chicago city limits at Sauganash. It is a dedicated-use path, although frequent intersections do pose a threat to path users. These intersections are clearly signed both to path users and motorists. The long-term goal is to join these two sections. The trail passes through the old

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger train, passenger and freight train, freight service over an route between the Chicag ...

right-of-way. It also serves as a route for bicycle, skateboard and

personal transporter A personal transporter (also powered transporter, electric rideable, personal light electric vehicle, personal mobility device, etc.) is any of a class of compact, mostly recent (21st century), motorised micromobility vehicle for transporting an ...

commuters.

History

The Trail runs on the old

right-of-way. The Skokie Valley Route was constructed between 1923 and 1926, with the purpose of enabling high-speed

limited-stop In public transit, particularly bus, tram, or train transportation, a limited-stop (or sometimes referred to as semi-fast) service is a trip pattern that stops less frequently than a local service. Many limited-stop or semi-fast services are a co ...

trains. From 1925 to 1948, the

Chicago Rapid Transit Company The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois, and several adjacent communities between 1924 and 1947. The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Aut ...

(and later the CTA) operated local rapid transit service over the Skokie Valley Route between Howard Street and Dempster Street in Skokie. Susquehanna Corporation, a

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

holding corporation formed in 1953, moved to cut its losses; in 1958, the railroad filed with regulatory authorities to discontinue service. On May 17, 1962, the request was approved. The last day of service came on January 20, 1963. The

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...

purchased the portion of the Skokie Valley line between Howard Street and Dempster Street, Skokie, and in early 1964 obtained federal funding for what turned out to be the " Skokie Swift." In other places, parts of the North Shore right of way have been turned into recreational trails, such as the

Green Bay Trail The Green Bay Trail is a rails with trails built on the former Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad. It runs parallel to Metra's Union Pacific North Line for nearly nine miles from Wilmette, Illinois, to Highland Park, Illinois. It was ori ...

, as part of the rails to trails program.

Trail Improvements and Extensions

In 2016, Lincolnwood completed new segments of the Valley Trail which created a continuous trail south to LaBaugh Woods. In 2023, the Skokie Village announced plans to extend the Valley Line Trail from its current terminus at Dempster-Skokie Station to its northernmost village boundary at Old Orchard Road by the Old Orchard Mall. The result will be a continuous trail from the

City of Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to the northern suburbs beyond Skokie via the North Branch Trail. The project is estimated to be completed by 2025. In late 2023, the village of Skokie received a grant to complete land acquisition towards the project. There is an ongoing project in Northfield to connect the two disparate sections.

References

{{Coord, 41.88275, -87.61433, display=title Bike paths in the Chicago metropolitan area Rail trails in Illinois

History

Trail Improvements and Extensions

See also

References