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Advocates ask Urbana to complete westward Boneyard Creek greenway; staff explain easement limits tied to development
Summary
Local advocates presented a decades‑old plan to extend the Boneyard Creek greenway west to link downtown with campus, highlighting a ‘Golden Triangle’ of parcels; staff explained the practical need for private easements and that the PUD at 413–419 West Main includes a 20‑foot creekway dedication to the city tied to an improvement fund.
Dennis Roberts and Matt Koski presented a long‑range vision for extending Urbana’s Boneyard Creek greenway westward to connect downtown with the University of Illinois campus. Roberts traced planning efforts back to a 2008 master plan, identified a key triangular area of privately owned parcels he called the “Golden Triangle,” and said FEMA floodplain funding and TIF money could make a westward extension feasible if the city can assemble the necessary easements and parcels.
Council members and staff discussed the mechanics of assembling a continuous shared‑use path: most of the land along the creek is privately owned, so the city relies on developers to dedicate easements and contribute to improvement funds to create a contiguous public corridor. Staff explained that the Boneyard Creekway permit associated with the 413–419 West Main PUD dedicates a 20‑foot easement into the property and triggers a developer payment into a fund to support future creekway improvements; the permit’s formula currently produced an estimated contribution of up to $10,000 for this development. Staff cautioned that path construction costs are much larger than the single‑project contribution and that assembling multiple parcels will be necessary.
Advocates urged renewed planning and public‑private partnerships to secure funding and completed design for the missing mile of the trail. Council members asked about park district involvement, maintenance responsibilities and how a potential apartment building would affect the available space for a wider park in the Golden Triangle.
