Work Begins On Bronzeville Trail, The South Side’s 1st Elevated Bike Path

BRONZEVILLE — Plans for the South Side’s first elevated biking trail moved forward Monday as county workers began the first in a series of environmental soil testings for the Bronzeville Trail project.

Members of the Bronzeville Trail Task Force — joined by State Rep. Kimberly du Buclet and Bronzeville Community Farm’s Rosalyn “Roz” Owens — were on hand to mark a milestone signaling that work to convert the two-mile abandoned rail into a public park is officially underway.

“The soil borings beginning here at 45th and State Street may look like technical work, but they represent something much bigger. It will reconnect communities, create new public space, support health and wellness, strengthen local businesses, and bring new energy to this historic neighborhood,” said du Buclet.

The elevated trail would start near 40th and Dearborn and move two miles east to 41st Street and Lake Park Avenue. An access point would be a block away from the 41st Street Pedestrian Bridge, which the team hopes will allow neighbors easy access to the Lakefront Trail.

The price tag for the project is approximately $100 million, similar in cost to the 606’s Bloomingdale Trail in Logan Square that opened in 2015. The Bronzeville Trail would be part health initiative, part economic engine designed to boost local businesses in the area and tourism on the South Side, according to the team. 

John Adams, the task force’s founder and chairman, said the project has been fortunate to receive a financial lift from private sector donors like the MacArthur Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, the latter of which awarded the task force a $900,000 grant in 2024.  

A portion of the funding from the Mellon Foundation is being used to defray the cost of environmental consultants testing the soil and making decisions on where to drill, said Adams.

As the railroad has been abandoned for so long, there’s been a buildup of contamination which makes testing necessary before the removal process starts, said board member Kevin Mimms. 

It’s been a busy 2026 for the task force as the group has been working on the trail’s framework plan, which they recently unveiled at their first open house of the year at Wendell Phillips Academy earlier this month. The team plans to host two more community engagement events in fall and winter, said Adams.

The task force’s plan has three key components: Trail Framework Goals, Land Use Framework Goals and Historic Framework Goals. Over the next year, they’ll shape the trail’s vision and programs while building a land use plan with community input. 

They’ll also develop a strategy for using the trail to promote the history of Bronzeville and its cultural assets, including nearby Roberts Temple Church, the site of Emmett Till’s funeral.

The team also hopes to build on the momentum of the Obama Presidential Center, which opened last week in Woodlawn. With Bronzeville being designated as a national heritage area, it’s “begging for tourism,” said Adams.

“It’s going to literally be a conduit to connect tourists from the Lakefront Bike Trail. We’ve had people support us from the Evanston Bike Club who said they can’t wait until they ride the Lakefront Bike Trail so they can come into Bronzeville and take a look at a lot of the landmarks and different places on the eastern end,” said Adams.

The annual and perennial plants that will eventually adorn the elevated trail will be provided by Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm. Owens, the farm’s proprietor, said she’s excited to be part of the project and looks forward to making the trail beautiful.

“When I was asked to be a part of this, at first I was saying, ‘Wait a minute, how can we do this?’ But we do it every year, every day. We’re growing food, and my focus is to train young people how to grow food, how to grow the vegetables, how to grow shrubbery,” said Owens.

If all goes according to plan, the Bronzeville Trail will open to the public in 2030, organizers said.