April 02, 2025
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Perry Farm sidewalk progressing

By Lee Provost
Kankakee Valley Construction workers pour concrete on the first day of installing the 10-foot-wide sidewalk at Perry Farm Park along Kennedy Drive in Bradley on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

Kankakee Valley Construction workers pour concrete on the first day of installing the 10-foot-wide sidewalk at Perry Farm Park along Kennedy Drive in Bradley on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Lee Provost)

BRADLEY – The long-anticipated new 10-foot-wide sidewalk around Perry Farm along Kennedy Drive in Bradley is taking its first steps.

On Thursday, Kankakee Valley Construction Co. crews began installing a 4-inch gravel layer topped by a 5-inch-thick concrete surface.

The hope is that a second day of pouring will take place early this week, said Jeff Woolman, KVCC concrete foreman.

“This is an outstanding idea,” Woolman said of the sidewalk, noting that he, like so many others, had concerns of people being so close to heavily-traveled Kennedy Drive.

While keeping his fingers crossed, Woolman said work on the $285,884 sidewalk is ahead of schedule.

The project is funded through a combination of an Illinois Department of Natural Resources grant and an award from the village of Bradley.

When the contract was awarded, park district Executive Director Mike O’Shea said the chief reason for the new sidewalk is to move it away from Kennedy Drive.

The current sidewalk rests along Kennedy Drive. The new sidewalk will sit back 12 feet from the existing sidewalk. The existing sidewalk will remain.

A new fence also will be put in place.

The goal is for the project to be completed by late April or early May, O’Shea said.

The location along Kennedy Drive is the home of the popular scarecrow contest. The new sidewalk will allow spectators to move a considerable distance from the five-lane road.