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North Avenue Pedestrian Bridge Closed For Lakefront Trail Work

By Ted Cox | July 3, 2017 1:08pm | Updated on July 5, 2017 8:10am
 Bicyclists and runners already have separate paths from Fullerton Avenue to Ohio Street.
Bicyclists and runners already have separate paths from Fullerton Avenue to Ohio Street.
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City of Chicago

LINCOLN PARK — The North Avenue pedestrian bridge across Lake Shore Drive is closed during the day after being open for the summer's biggest holiday.

The Chicago Park District closed the bridge last week to continue work separating bike and pedestrian paths on the Lakefront Trail. It's to be closed from about 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. through July 21.

The bridge was open Monday and Tuesday, the Fourth of July, as no work was being done on site.

The Park District said the bridge "needs to close for public safety to allow heavy construction activity to occur at this location."

Construction trucks enter the site at Fullerton Avenue and drive south to the location of the new bike trail within the grass area closer to Lake Shore Drive near the east, lakeside end of the bridge, the Park DIstrict said.

"The work includes excavation, loading the excavated material for hauling off site and then continuing to drive south around the bridge and exit at LaSalle Street," the Park District added.

After excavation is complete, crews will install a stone base at the site, then lay asphalt for the divided paths.

The Park District advised beachgoers that "public access to the lakefront and beach is still available from Fullerton Avenue, LaSalle Street and the North Avenue underpass," adding, "We apologize for the inconvenience as we work to improve the Lakefront Trail."

A year ago, the bridge was closed for three months in a $1 million repair project, but reopened just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

Work separating cyclists and pedestrians along that stretch of Lincoln Park between North Avenue Beach and Lake Shore Drive was paid for, in part, through a $12 million donation from Ken Griffin, the state's richest person and an avid lakefront cyclist.