The Southeast Association for Special Parks And Recreation will host its 16th annual Walk and Roll-A-Thon fundraiser May 22.
The event will take place at Ebersold Park in Downers Grove from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Participants will collect pledges for each lap completed around the half-mile course at Ebersold Park, located at the corner of 59th and Main streets in Downers Grove.
This all-ages event welcomes walkers, runners, wheelchairs, rollerblades, strollers and leashed dogs. Refreshments will be served, and all participants receive a T-shirt. Registration is required by May 16.
Proceeds from the Walk and Roll-A-Thon will go toward the purchase of a vehicle used for SEASPAR’s recreational programs and services for individuals with disabilities served by the park districts of Clarendon Hills, Darien, Downers Grove, La Grange, La Grange Park, Lemont, Lisle, Westmont and Woodridge, and the villages of Brookfield, Indian Head Park and Western Springs. For more information and to obtain pledge forms, call 630-960-7600.
I-55 Managed Lane Project public meeting set for May 17
The Illinois Department of Transportation is inviting the community and stakeholders to attend a public meeting concerning the proposed improvement of Interstate 55, between Interstate 355 and Interstate 90/94.
The scope of this work consists of the addition of one managed lane in each direction within the existing median of I-55, drainage improvements and noise walls. The existing travel lanes on I-55 will remain free, but the new managed lane is proposed to be tolled as an Express Toll Lane.
A public meeting is scheduled to take place from 4-7 p.m. May 17 at the Holiday Inn Countryside Conference Center, 6201 Joliet Road, Countryside. The purpose of the meeting will be to present the environmental assessment, the recommended preferred alternative and obtain public input.
For more information, visit www.i55managedlaneproject.org.
2016 DuPage River Sweep set for May 21
Downers Grove, Westmont and Woodridge are among the more than 20 communities taking part in the Conservation Foundation’s 2016 DuPage River Sweep.
The annual cleanup and restoration event is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The purpose of the river sweep is to encourage volunteers to help “sweep our rivers clean” by picking up debris in and along the local waterways, and restoring nearby land back to its natural state.
This year’s river sweep is scheduled to take place 9 a.m. to noon May 21.
Last year, more than 6 tons of trash was collected and a record 97 miles of shoreline swept. Since starting in 1991, more than 10,800 volunteers have removed nearly 3,252 tons of garbage from DuPage County streams.
For more information or to register for the event, visit www.theconservationfoundation.org/sweep
Village names Downer Grove Park District ‘Green Business’
The Downers Grove Park District announced that it was accepted into the village of Downers Grove Green Business Program last month.
The program is open to every village business, which must demonstrate “substantial efforts to become environmentally sustainable.” In order to be awarded the Green Business distinction, the park district had to demonstrate it has a recycling service and significant green practices within four of the following categories: waste reduction and recycling, water conservation and stormwater pollution prevention, energy conservation, transportation, public education and awareness, and innovation.