East Branch DuPage River Trail (EBDRT)

10/1/25: Today, our guest speakers were Ginger Wheeler & Steve Johnson representing Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail (www.EastBranchTrail.org)
 
What is the EBDRT? 

The East Branch DuPage River Trail (EBDRT) is a planned 28-mile regional trail in central DuPage County (Trail map: see  https://www.ebdrt.com/) This north-south trail was first conceptualized in the 1990s as an off-street non-motorized pathway for DuPage residents west of I-355, connecting isolated pockets of forest preserves with parks, waterways, and several municipalities. Much of the trail's 28 miles of proposed facilities were identified in 2004.  That year, two of DuPage County's departments--Economic Development and Planning (now reconstituted), and the Division of Transportation--collaborated to commission a feasibility study of the East Branch Trail. The study served as a guiding document for proposed facilities throughout the corridor. From that feasibility study, multiple engineering studies were embarked upon to begin designing and constructing segments of the East Branch Trail. Many of those segments identified in 2004 have struggled to progress into constructible projects. 

In 2019, the County partnered with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County and the Village of Glen Ellyn to undertake a preliminary engineering study, known as the East Branch DuPage River Trail Alignment Study. The purpose of the EBDRT Alignment Study was to identify a feasible alignment to carry forward into future engineering studies and, eventually, construction. The limits of the study area were from the Great Western Trail at St. Charles Road to the Hidden Lake Forest Preserve at Butterfield Road, where vast tracts of public lands are criss-crossed by utility rights of way, state roads, and riverways.

This was the subject of today's presentation. 

Issues include:

  1. There currently is no budget or funding in place.
  2. On the north end between the Great Western Trail and the Illinois Prairie Path are the Union Pacific Railroad tracks: need for a crossing.  
  3. There are competing EBDRT options south of Roosevelt Road: West/Route 53 trail and the East/Greenway trail. The Friends of the East Branch DuPage River Trail are volunteers advocating for the completion and maintenance of the East/Greenway trail.