Burnham Greenway Gap

Of all the Green Legacy projects, perhaps none could be more productive in bringing together unconnected green infrastructure than closing the Burnham Greenway gap—the missing link in a crossroads of several trails of regional, state and national significance. This keystone location of strategic importance is a two-mile gap in the 11-mile Burnham Greenway, a former railroad right-of-way linking Chicago to Lansing. Closing the Burnham Greenway gap is a major Green Legacy goal and creates a hub tying together hundreds of miles of local, state and inter-state trails.

Completing this Calumet-area trail gap requires overcoming complex infrastructure, land use and right-of-way hurdles, including securing the use of a utility right-of-way and constructing a bridge. Partners in the trail gap project include the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Village of Burnham, Openlands and ComEd. Thanks to support from the Exelon Foundation, the Centennial’s presenting sponsor for the environment, fundamental barriers to the long-elusive goal of closing the Burnham Greenway gap may finally be removed.

For a print-friendly fact sheet on the Burnham Greenway Gap, click here.