This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Evanston Environmentalists Upset About Asphalt Trail

Members of the city's Ladd Arboretum Committee and local environmentalists are concerned about a city plan to put an asphalt trail through the natural landscape to replace a crushed stone path that now exists. The city also plans to add a concrete sidewalk in some sections of the arboretum's seventeen acres.

On January 30 Gov. Quinn announced that Evanston would receive a $580,000 grant from the Dept. of Transportation to build the trail. The city will add another $145,000 as part of the agreement. On March 10 the City Council unanimously voted in favor of an asphalt path. However, the determination of path construction has not yet been finalized.

Proponents of the asphalt say it is a better surface for children to ride on to nearby Haven and Kingsley schools.

Jim LaRochelle of the Ladd Committee points out that the children already have an asphalt path in adjacent Twiggs Park. Charles Smith, former head of the Ladd Committee, points out that the primary goal for a path should be that it fit the natural surroundings and purpose of the arboretum.

Other factors noted by environmentalists:

a) Asphalt contains petroleum products, volatile compounds, and sometimes heavy metals that can leach into soil and nearby water.

b) The edges of an asphalt path crack with vegetation. For an eight-foot path you need a ten-foot-wide asphalt trail. The asphalt has to be redone every eight years, possibly more often.

c) According to the National Trails Training Partnership, prior to constructing an asphalt trail "vegetation should cleared and stump and roots removed along the trail for a minimum of five feet outside the edge of the proposed pavement."

In support of the asphalt people have noted it is a sturdier biking surface and requires less maintenance.

Recently the trail in Evanston's Perkins Woods, formerly of deteriorating asphalt, was replaced with a crushed stone path. It is hoped that the city will hold open its final decisions on the path in Ladd Arboretum.




We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?