Northern Lakeshore Trail Connectivity Plan Wins APA-IL Award

We're delighted to share the American Planning Association of Illinois awarded the Northern Lakeshore Trail Connectivity Plan the Healthy & Active Community award, which recognizes an effort to create healthier and active communities through a plan or program.

"This well organized, visual plan has an eye towards ease of implementation for municipalities as well as providing evidence of items already implemented," the APA-IL said.

The objective of the plan is to improve walking, bicycling, and access to transit between and among the five northern lakeshore communities of Winthrop Harbor, Zion, Beach Park, Waukegan, and North Chicago along Lake Michigan. Additionally, these five communities worked to improve connections between commuter rail stations and Illinois Beach State Park, a key regional destination managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Overall, the goals of the process will be to ensure that these communities are safe and accessible, healthy, connected and growing.

Expand

Close

Epstein's Tim Gustafson at the awards ceremony. Photos courtesy of: Francesca Sallinger & Phil Green

For Epstein, the project included network planning, conceptual plan and design guidelines, cost estimates, stakeholder engagement, and an implementation strategy to include key stakeholders such as residents, economic development agencies, and departments of transportation. We are delighted to be consulting with our friends at The Lakota Group, who provided assistance in branding, community engagement, and wayfinding, and the Active Transportation Alliance, specializing in geographic information systems analysis, engagement, and transportation recommendations.

Thank you to the APA-IL for this recognition!