DNA Info: A Bloomingdale Trail for Englewood? City Moves To Get Train Tracks for Park

DNAinfo/Tanveer Ali

We've heard about this for quite about and seems it's coming closer to reality for Englewood residents:

The city is taking a major step that could result in the creation of a 1.7-mile-long park and trail system on an unused rail line in Englewood, a project similar to the The Bloomingdale Trail and "The 606" system being built on the North Side.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Office formally submitted an ordinance to the City Council last week proposing that the city exchange land with Norfolk Southern railway company.

The railway would get land near 63rd Street to expand its rail yards, and the city would get a stretch of elevated rail line north of 59th Street between Hoyne Avenue and Wallace Street that has been unused for decades. No money would change hands.

City officials and community leaders say the land swap is the first major step in remaking the rail line into a space for public use.

"Acquisition is the first step to any plan," said Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner of the city's Department of Housing and Economic Development. "The proposal is being envisioned as a linear open space that could be publicly accessible as a park."

Ah the Norfolk Southern Railway, the company that's buying up some significant land in Englewood for an expanded railyard. It's reared it's ugly head although there were some agreements in place especially with the possibility of more parkland.

What do you think about making a former rail line into parkland?