DuPage County Board Member Sheila Rutledge, chair of DuPage County Environmental Committee, is acknowledged for her work on behalf of the IPP by president Erik Spande. One of the goals of the new DuPage County Trails Plan is to remove invasive species like buckthorn from the Illinois Prairie Path.

October 12 - Ride Illinois Bike Summit - Champaign, IL

September 17 - Presentation to Mayor of Lisle Chris Pekac and Morton Arboretum President Bob Schillerstrom

June 4 - Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail Host First Community Event: Discover the East Branch DuPage River Trail

Great Event! Fun had by all!

• 120 participants

• 83 petition signatures

• Dozens of successful tours led

• 10 dedicated volunteers

• 2 fantastic musical groups (Electro Retro and Terry Shapiro!)

• 1 serene yoga class led by Karol to kick things off!

May 18 - Daily Herald Editorial Board Supports the East Branch DuPage River Trail

Read the opinion by the Daily Herald about the East Branch DuPage River Trail (for Daily Herald subscribers).

Many thanks to Daily Herald for making this issue and their opinion known to its readers!

May 9 - Daily Herald Article by Katlyn Smith

Read the article by Katlyn Smith of the Daily Herald about the Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail.

Many thanks to Libby A'Hearn, Tim Elliott, Steve Johnson and Ginger Wheeler for coming out for photos with Daily Herald photographer John Stark.

The Lion's posted this on their Facebook page which we were thrilled to read.

Biking the East Branch Trail route with Sid Kenyon, AICP, transportation planner for DuPage County

Wednesday, February 17

The Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail gave an advocacy talk hosted by Active Transportation Alliance as part of their Suburban Action Week.

Click the link to watch a recording of our presentation.

February 15-20

Part of Suburban Action Week with Active Transportation Alliance

Wednesday Feb 17 7:30 pm Central, we talked EBDRT with Active Transportation Alliance. 

Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail, to support better walking, biking, and transit in DuPage County and around the region, joined the Active Transportation Alliance during for Suburban Action Week, a virtual event featuring a series of short online talks and workshops with advocates, county staff, and community leaders from around the region. Videos have been posted at Active Transportation's website. 

Many thanks to all participants who joined in, watched videos, etc. What a great week! Thank you also to the new signers of the petition. The week helped us connect with new trail supporters who are helping us spread the word to collect even more support and signatures.

October 3

Volunteers hosted a Walk/Bike social in Lombard at  The Corner House, a delightful coffee shop and restaurant, co-sponsored by Active Transportation Alliance. Plenty of fun was had and lots of great connections were made to made the connecting bike trail even that much more closer to reality!

Many thanks to the Corner House for allowing us to meet at their lovely location: Perfect for a meet up of bike/walk/hike/run friends! 

October 10

Volunteers presented to the Butterfield Park District board of directors.  Butterfield Park District is an important partner in the trail creation as it will link several of their parks!

Thank you to Executive Director Larry Reiner for the invitation!

September 18

Volunteers presented to the Wheaton Bicycle Commission at Wheaton City Hall.

Thank you to Steve Johnson of Copresco for organizing this presentation. 

September 18

Volunteers presented to the Central DuPage Kiwanis Club about the East Branch DuPage River Trail

Thank you to Steve Johnson of Copresco for organizing this presentation. 

September 12

Volunteers presented to the Elmhurst Bike Club 

Many thanks to Kim and Steve Johnson for this opportunity and invitation.

August 29

Volunteers met with Congressman Sean Casten

Many thanks to Active Transportation Alliance invitation.

July 24 

Decision makers who represent multiple governmental bodies with jurisdictions that can accommodate the East Branch DuPage River Bike Trail route met to discuss and plan the trail route and how barriers to success may be overcome. Many thanks to DuPage County for taking the lead to accomomdate so many busy schedules and agendas for this important meeting. Governmental bodies working together for the good of the public and the citizens!

Tuesday, June 25

Volunteers were able to ride to work with DuPage County Board president Dan Cronin on a gorgeous summer morning!

Many thanks to Dan Cronin, president of the DuPage County Board, and Sid Kenyon for this invitation!

Wednesday, May 29

Volunteers presented information about the East Branch DuPage River Trail to the Baker Hill Condominium Association.

Many thanks to Steve Johnson of Copressco for organizing!

Tuesday, May 28

Volunteers attended the DuPage County Board meeting in Wheaton. This agenda item was approved unanimously.

Many thanks to Tim Elliott for this invitation!

Tuesday, May 21

Volunteers presented information about the East Branch DuPage River Trail to the Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners.

Many thanks to Renea Frigo for the invitation.

Sunday, May 11

Volunteers collecterd petition signatures at the Glen Ellyn Park District's Garden Market in Glen Ellyn as the guest of the Glen Ellyn Park District and SCARCE at 799 Roosevelt Road, Building 2, Ste 108. The weather was frightful but the goats didn't mind a bit!

Here is more information about the event from SCARCE: www.scarce.org/growin-green/

Many thanks to Renea Frigo and the Glen Ellyn Park District for this opportunity

Wednesday, May 8

Volunteers were invited to present to the influential and prestigious DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference Committee to talk about the East Branch DuPage River Trail.  DuPage Mayors and Managers is a council of 33 municipal governments in DuPage County and includes six DuPage County Board members and six DuPage County area mayors, as well as county/municipal staff members.

Many thanks to Mary Ozog, County Board Member and co-chair of the County/Municipal Intergovernmental Committee, along with Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig for this invitation.

Thursday, April 25

Thanks to DuPage Forest Preserve board member Tim Whelan, the invitation to join trail supporters at The Conservation Foundation's Earth Day Dinner, courtesy of Mark Gil, president, Butterfield Preservation Foundation, and Dr. Larry Reiner, executive director, Butterfield Park District, was greatly appreciated. Joining us at the table was  a wonderfully charming group of elected officials including State Representative Amy Grant, County Board Member Pete DiCianni  and Butterfield Park District board member Michael Kryger. Also was a pleasure meeting Marilyn Joyner, DuPage Friends of Extension (hoping to get a ticket to her Ball Garden brunch in August!). It takes a whole county and lots of support to build a bike trail!

Thanks to DuPage Forest Preserve Board Member Tim Whelan for arranging this opportunity.

Saturday, April 20

Got out on a portion of the East Branch DuPage River Trail that is normally off-limits now, thanks to the Environmental Club and their extraordinary faculty advisor Diana Strode. This was trail clean up day and lots of bags of garbage was collected including 3 fishing poles (with fishing line...deadly to animals!), a tire, a giant clam pot and much plastic and beverage containers. Spotted a lone coyote loping through the area. All in, the area is beautiful and would be wonderful as a trail.

Thanks to College of DuPage faculty advisor Diana Strode for the opportunity to tag along.

Monday, April 22

On Earth Day, trail supporters met with Congressman Sean Casten to discuss the East Branch DuPage River Trail and how it will be a fantastic amenity for the 6th Congressional District. Casten expressed his support for the project. 

Thank you to Ed Barsotti of Ride Illinois for arranging this meeting!

Sunday, April 14

Volunteers presented information about the East Branch DuPage River Trail to the Men's Study Group of the First United Methodist Church of Lombard. 

Many thanks to Stephen E. Flint, AIA, principal of Flint Architects for this invitation!

Friday, March 29

More than 61 pages of paper petitions have been collected since the campaign to build and fund the East Branch DuPage River Trail (EBDRT) ignited in the fall of 2017. Assuming each page has approximately 10 signatures (some do not and some have more than 10), that's over 600 individuals who have touched a piece of paper and pledged their support of this initiative with their signature.

Volunteers have personally stepped up without being asked to download and collect signatures on a paper petition. The entire community owes a huge thank you to these people including Nancy, Rich, Kristin, Renea, Steve (a few Steve's actually), Susan, the Hodgesin family and many, many more.

Yesterday, the paper petitions were forwarded to Active Transportation Alliance who volunteered an intern to begin the laborious process of data-entry so that we can capture the information of the folks who have signed the petition in the good faith that someone will get the EBDRT completed and then communicate back to them about the progress.

Many thanks to Active Transportation Alliance and their wonderful staffers including Maggie, Matt, Ron and Jim for this generous offer of labor support!

Don't forget an ONLINE petition can also be signed and today there are more than 1,623 people have signed it. Please spread the word and ask family, friends and neighbors to sign. In a county of more than 1 million population, if 20,000 people are in favor of something, it's going to happen!

Huge shout out to Active Transportation's intern, Ashley Velazquez, a  Berwyn high school freshman at Christo Rey. She  spent about 3 full days typing up all the signatures, about 20 hours of work.

Thursday, March 21

Volunteers presented to an enthusiastic audience from the Wild Ones of DuPage County Environmental group. Approximately 50 in attendance. 

Thank you to Rich Whitney for arranging this presentation

Wesnesday, March 20

Volunteers presented to students in the College of DuPage Environmental Club. The students were most enthusiastic and asked lots of great questions. They pledge support, signed the petition and offered to carry petitions around the college to ask their fellow students to also support the East Branch DuPage River Trail.

Many thanks to Rose Arnold for the invitation to speak.

Tuesday, March 12

Volunteers presented to a citizens environmental committee of the Glen Ellyn Park District.

Thursday, February 7

Volunteers presented to the Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn to raise awareness and garner signatures.

Thank you to Steve Johnson Copressco, for organizing!

Thursday, February 7

Volunteers participated in the Conservation Foundation's East Branch DuPage River Workshop along with DuPage County Stormwater Management and were able to speak to the group of about 30 people about the trail project.

Thank you to Jan Roehll for organizing!

Thursday, January 24

Trail supporter Ginger Wheeler spoke at Keller Williams Chamber of Commerce Day to talk to area realtors and members of the public about the area's bike trails and especially what is planned: namely the East Branch DuPage River Trail. Watch the video.

Thank you to Realtor Beth Gorz for organizing!

January 2019

Village of Glen Ellyn's draft comprehensive plan mentions EBDRT, noting the trail will be a key north/south connector in the community. Village of Glen Ellyn is set to approve the 20-year comprehensive plan in the near future ?

Review the draft plan here: https://hlplanning-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/p/bnolin/EYkkIxPlJhlCswCjMqK9zBMBFnM_aqVc6r1B8Rrw5yT6QA?e=lOAXQv

Add your comments about potential bicycle lanes in downtown Glen Ellyn to encourage planners to move forward with this "Must Do" idea at the "Your Municipal" website (Must create a log-in to add a comment).

January, 2019 

On January 22, 2019, East Branch Trail supporters organized a well-attended community meeting featuring community advocates and trail supporters as well as elected officials and staff from a variety of governmental entities. Included were

• DuPage County

• Village of Glen Ellyn

• Butterfield Park District

• Glen Ellyn Park District

• Valley View Homeowners association

• Butterfield East Homeowners Association

Tuesday, January 8

Volunteers made a presentation to the Wheaton Noon Lions Club

Wednesday, January 2

Volunteers made a presentation to the Wheaton Rotary Club

December, 2018 

DuPage County, the DuPage County Forest Preserve and the Village of Glen Ellyn have each voted on and passed their 2019 respective budgets which includes money to kickstart the construction process of initiating grant funding for the East Branch DuPage River Trail in a display of intergovernmental cooperation. Taking the lead, DuPage County has asked for statements of interest from engineering firms. The due date for submitting a statement of interest on the project is December 20, 2018.  The county will select a a firm to complete the Phase I engineering in the spring."

October 2018 

On October 23, DuPage County and the DuPage County Forest Preserve and the Village of Glen Ellyn each pledged their support for the East Branch DuPage River Greenway Trail along with a cumulative $160,000 toward it's feasibility study and eventual construction.  

Press releases stating the fact are linked above. 

The funding and support is a result of the actions of many, many elected officials and citizens who are are interested in seeing this long-planned, but never funded project reach completion for the benefit of future generations. Keep reading to see how this happened:

December 18, 2018

Volunteers made a presentation to the Wheaton A.M. Rotary group

Wednesday, December 12

Volunteers made a presentation to the Southminster Presbyterian Church Men's Breakfast Group

Saturday, November 10

Trail supporters were at HealthTrack Sports Wellness participating in HealthTrack's vendor fair to share information about the East Branch DuPage River Trail with members.

Many thanks to HealthTrack for the invitation

Thursday, November 8

An update on trail progress was provided to the League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn board of directors.

Sunday, November 4

At the Illinois Prairie Path annual meeting Sid Kenyon, senior transportation planner and trail planning director for DuPage County, talked about the East Branch DuPage River Trail. More signatures were collected and excitement for the eventual completion of the trail continues to build.

Saturday, November 3

Trail supporters were visible at Ackerman Park Open House in Glen Ellyn where, due to their efforts, nearly 30 people learned about the East Branch DuPage River Trail and signed the petition. Thanks to everyone who signed the petition! Please share and spread the word to your friends, family and neighbors.

Thursday, October 25

Trail supporters attended the Glen Ellyn Plan Commission meeting to make remarks and show their support for keeping mentions of the East Branch DuPage River Trail in the 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan they are developing. The draft version of the plan mentions the trail several times and is based on surveys of citizens who have been asking for this trail to be completed.

Learn more about the development of the Glen Ellyn 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan 

Thursday, October 18        

DuPage County Board District 4 Representative Tim Elliott spoke at a community meeting (Open to the public) hosted by the League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn. Trail supporters were there wearing their I❤️EBDRT flag pins.

Saturday, October 14, 2018

Supporters of the East Branch DuPage River Trail were at "This Run's for Jack" to raise awareness among participants and hand out fliers. 

September, 2018 

An article about the East Branch DuPage RIver Trail appears in Glen Ellyn Living magazine by freelancer writer Ginger Wheeler. Read the whole article. 

September, 2018 

Trail supporter speaks to members of Sustain DuPage's Environmental Commission and Committe Coalition (EC3) to educate these advocates about the East Branch DuPage River Trail.

Saturday, August 25

Libby and Ginger meet with other trail advocates to talk about their work advocating for the East Branch DuPage River Trail at the invitation of Active Transportation Alliance at their 2018 Bike Trail Summit at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn.

August, 2018 

Supporters of the East Branch DuPage River Trail met with Congressman Peter Roskam, of the lllinois 6th District to raise awareness and garner his support for the project.  The Congressman pledged his support and signed the petition.

June 16, 2018 

Bike Parade to future intersection of East Branch Trail and Prairie Path.  More signatures added to the petition from fellow bikers & runners.

Thursday, March 28

Volunteers presented to an influential audience from Rotary Club of Lombard with approximately 15 in attendance. This has led to even MORE presentations as members of this group approached volunteers afterwards to meet with additional groups they are affiliated with. Hurray

October 3

Volunteers hosted a Walk/Bike social in Lombard at  The Corner House, a delightful coffee shop and restaurant, co-sponsored by Active Transportation Alliance. Plenty of fun was had and lots of great connections were made to made the connecting bike trail even that much more closer to reality!

Many thanks to the Corner House for allowing us to meet at their lovely location: Perfect for a meet up of bike/walk/hike/run friends!