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Parts of Lakefront Trail 'Hammered' by Storm To Be Repaved

By Josh McGhee | November 3, 2014 11:47am | Updated on November 3, 2014 3:27pm
 The portion of the trail between 47th and 51st streets was littered with debris, a spokesman for the Chicago Park District said.
The portion of the trail between 47th and 51st streets was littered with debris, a spokesman for the Chicago Park District said.
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DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

STREETERVILLE — Construction crews from the Chicago Park District began clearing the Lakefront Trail Monday of the broken asphalt that cluttered the path after Friday's stormy weather.

Cyclists Monday morning were forced off their bikes to maneuver around the Bobcats and Park District vehicles used to push the broken asphalt off the path just south of North Avenue Beach. While some groaned about it, it was necessary to prepare the trail for its repaving Tuesday, one construction worker said.

"They'll clean it all up and redo the asphalt tomorrow — weather permitting," the worker said.

The worker said crews had been out since early Monday clearing the weather's damage from Evanston to the Indiana border.

 The lakefront trail was a bit smoother Monday morning as crews began removing broken asphalt.
Lakefront Trail Clean Up Begins
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Rob Rejman, director of Planning and Development for the Park District, said the crews began work Monday morning around 7 a.m. and were focusing on cleaning up two problem areas from "Goethe Street to Oak Street" and from "47th and 51st street."

"It was really hammered," said Rejman, adding that the secondary trail took most of the damage and "was hit with an amazing amount of debris."

That area of the trail had deteriorated before the waves hit Friday, but it is part of a much bigger project already underway to restore the concrete shoreline, so most of the work there will be just clearing the debris, Rejman said.

The North Side problems included pavement that had "peeled off" because of the powerful waves, he said.

"It looks like a deck off cards that just got shuffled," he said.

Rejman estimated the damage would cost "a couple hundred thousand dollars by the time it's all done."

While the Park District hopes to have the trail repaved by the end of the week, the work could take until next week if it rains, Rejman said.

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