Proposed bike lane construction on Sheridan Road receives funding
Soon, running into bikes while rushing to class up and down Sheridan Road will be a thing of the past. The City of Evanston announced Monday that they received almost $1.5 million dollars from the federal government to construct bike paths along Sheridan Road from Chicago Ave. to Lincoln St. Evanston also received funds to build a bike path along Chicago Ave from Sheridan Road to Davis St. The funds come in a grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program. The project was presented before the City Council on April 8, and was met with general support. The bike paths will be designed this year, according to the City of Evanston, while construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and summer of 2015.
New hotel coming to Downtown Evanston
Fewer parents might find themselves staying in Skokie during Welcome Week, as an extended stay hotel was recently approved for construction in Downtown Evanston. The eight-story Hyatt House will be built at 1515 Chicago Ave, which is currently a vacant site. The hotel will include a public restaurant and lounge, as well as a green roof. Thomas Blunk, an Evanston-resident and the developer in charge of the project, said the project will create 200 construction jobs and 25 hotel operations jobs.
Evanston searching for new animal shelter leadership, ending the partnership with CARE
After voting to end a long partnership with the Community Animal Rescue Effort (CARE) on April 8, the City of Evanston is looking for a replacement volunteer animal organization to work with the city to run the Evanston Animal Shelter. On May 9, the city will officially end its partnership with CARE after years of tensions, negotiations and questions about CARE’s unusually high euthanasia rate. Letters of interest from organizations interested in replacing CARE are due by April 25. The city will run the shelter’s operations until a replacement is found.