Editor’s note: If you notice construction around the preserves this summer and wonder what is happening, Cindy Wojdyla Cain, the Forest Preserve public information officer, will be providing online Project Update reports with all the information you need to stay informed. 

A closed section of Book Road in Naperville is being converted into a 1-mile extension of the DuPage River Trail that will connect to an existing trail segment at Riverview Farmstead Preserve.

In a technique used previously on a Normantown Trail section in Plainfield, the sides of Book Road will be cut away from 119th Street to 127th Street to form a 12-foot-wide paved path.

Crews are currently removing and replacing old culverts. The road sections will be removed as the work continues.

The project also will include upgrading the existing trail crossing at 119th Street and installing new concrete bench pads and benches.

The work, which began the week of June 1, is expected to be completed later this summer. The cost of the project is $599,683.

The Forest Preserve currently owns 8.64 miles of the DuPage River Trail and is working with 12 other agencies to create a 40-mile trail stretching from DuPage County to Lake Chaminwood Preserve in Channahon.

"Once the DuPage River Trail reaches Lake Chaminwood, the path can connect to the 61.5-mile I&M Canal Trail," said public information officer Cindy Wojdyla Cain. "This is just one of several long-term trail connection projects the Forest Preserve is working on that will link more and more communities and provide recreational opportunities throughout Will County."