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Lakefront Trail Twitter Account Keeps Riders, Runners, Walkers Informed

By Justin Breen | February 16, 2015 5:33am
 The country's busiest trail has its own social media following on Twitter.
The country's busiest trail has its own social media following on Twitter.
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DNAinfo/Josh McGhee (File)

CHICAGO — The country's busiest trail has its own social media following on Twitter.

The account @activetransLFT was created in 2011 specifically to cover the Chicago Lakefront Trail. The handle, which has a little more than 1,700 followers, is part of the Active Transportation Alliance's social media accounts.

The 18-mile-long trail, which stretches from Rogers Park to South Shore, is considered the country's busiest, with 30,000 riders, runners and walkers hitting the trail's key points during peak usage.

"I think the growing constituencies of people who are using the trail in a variety of capacities is something people need to recognize," said alliance campaign director Kyle Whitehead, who helps manage the trail's Twitter account. "There's potential to make the trail even better and even safer."

The account posts a few tweets per week, with activity increasing in cases of severe weather, including the recent blizzard that hit the city. The account also retweeted several posts of concerned trail-goers after parts of the trail crumbled from wave damage in the Gold Coast in November.

Whitehead also said the account tweets news of upcoming meetings where the trail's safety may be discussed.

"It's definitely a valuable and critical asset to this city," Whitehead said.

Twitter users can report trail conditions with the hashtag #CHILFT; those without Twitter can email lakefront@activetrans.org with reports.

"The hashtag has been useful in demonstrating the diversity of the people who are using the trail every day," Whitehead said.

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