The Bloomingdale Trail, or 606, has spent over ten years in the making, a long awaited rails-to-trails project that will finally open to the public in Chicago this weekend. Thanks largely in part to a $50 million federal grant, the nearly $100 million adaptive reuse project will no doubt become one of Chicago's greatest park spaces—one that Mayor Rahm Emanuel believes will connect the neighborhoods it runs through. Yesterday, the 606 team hosted a media preview of the not-quite-completed, 2.7-mile elevated trail, and held a press conference with Mayor Emanuel and Beth White of the Trust for Public Land. Construction crews are working down to the wire, installing handrails, fencing and completing the landscaping work ahead of Saturday's big debut, and while the park and recreation trail may not be in full bloom just yet, it is exciting to see the nearly completed project.
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