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Heritage Corridor

 Preserving country roads

Go for a drive, and you’ll see how small roads have changed, as picturesque country roads evolve into 4-lane mini-highways, dividing a beautiful landscape into smaller and smaller islands surrounded by asphalt and accompanied by increased traffic, pollution and flooding.

 

 Heritage Corridor Program

The Heritage Corridor program uses conservation easements to protect designated roads in perpetuity.

Ridge Road

The Duchossois Heritage Corridor Easement protects approximately 528 feet of land on the west side of Ridge Road in McHenry County, making it difficult for this picturesque byway to become a major traffic artery in the future.

Brinker Road

For the Biltons, establishing a Heritage Corridor Easement allowed them to preserve a section of Brinker Road fronting the family’s rolling oak-laden landscape in Barrington Hills, inhibiting further destruction of this delicate habitat.

Otis Road

The scenic beauty of Otis Road winding past their Barrington Hills oak woodland prompted the Pfaffs to contact BACT to assist with a Heritage Corridor Easement to keep their front yard from being consumed by a possible road expansion.

Old Sutton Road

Bordering a nature preserve, the Boshell property in Barrington Hills contains mixed hardwoods and evergreens that add to the beauty of Old Sutton Road. A scenic roadside that curbs runoff to Spring Creek Nature Preserve has been saved.

If you live on one of the roads listed above and have not established a Heritage Corridor, your commitment is needed.

 

 

 Heritage Corridor Recognization

To have a road become a recognized Heritage Corridor and have a sign placed on your road to recognize its status, about 50% of its roadside needs to be protected by a Heritage Corridor Easement.

Heritage Corridors address the unique features of each property, including fences, driveways, lights, etc. and are carefully crafted to account for changes in the property that you and future landowners may decide to make over time. To learn more about Heritage Corridors, please email us or call 847-387-3149.

 

 

Does my road qualify to become a Heritage Corridor?

Roads that qualify to become Heritage Corridors must possess BOTH of the following characteristics:

  • They must connect major thoroughfares, but were originally designed for residential use
  • If they were altered, the rural character of the area would be altered as well

In addition, qualifying roadways must fulfill two or more of the secondary conditions. They must:

  • Have scenic value or possess public vistas
  • Be two-lane residential roads with minimal shoulders
  • Pass through or be adjacent to environmentally sensitive areas or habitats
  • Run parallel to or be crossed by historic riding trails
  • Have a documented historical value to the community
  • Possess archaeological features
  • Possess distinct expressions of local community life

For more information, please email us or call 847-387-3149.