On a warm summer day, Highland Park’s University Avenue is mostly shaded, due to an abundance of century-old trees lining the residential street. The deafening buzz of cicadas can be heard throughout the Highlands, a single-family neighborhood in the city, as the periodical insects find temporary habitat in towering trees. Many of those trees could be cut down to make room for a city sidewalk project — initiated through a resident request — dividing neighbors into those who support the trees and those who support the sidewalk installation.
The city is considering a sidewalk to encourage more non-motorized transportation. According to the city of , a sidewalk project on University Avenue is now in the public engagement and evaluation phase, but no decisions have been made concerning a sidewalk in the area. The next steps for the project include a further study, including an engineering survey and tree-impact report, to provide a comprehensive report and recommendation to the City Council, according to the city’s website.
The report is expected to be available at the city’s Transportation Advisory Group meeting on June 19. Developed in the 1920s by socialite Edith Rockefeller McCormick, the Highlands were envisioned to offer a forested oasis to the bustle of city life, according to an American Lifestyle magazine article written by Highlands resident Linda Stein in 2022. There are few sidewalks on the residential streets of the Highlands, which is home to a primary con.