Letters: The Major Taylor Trail deserves the same publicity and investment The 606 bike trail receives

In the Sunday Life+Travel section, there was a nice article on former railroad corridors converted into trails in the Chicago area (“Rails to trails”). Sadly, while Chicago’s 606 trail is mentioned, one glaring omission is the Major Taylor Trail, an 8-mile rails-to-trail adaptation that runs from the Dan Ryan Woods to Whistler Woods on the Far South Side. The author missed this apparently because the Far South Side doesn’t really exist.
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This omission is a reflection of the voluminous resources poured into The 606 trail. In fact, the Major Taylor Trail has been in existence longer than The 606 but has received only a small fraction of the investment in the 100,000 people of the surrounding areas. What is good for The 606 is good for the Major Taylor Trail. This battle continues to be fought.
The Major Taylor Trail is accessible at many points along the Chicago bike lane network and crosses Metra lines at three points. The trail also connects to the Cal-Sag Trail, which provides regional access out to Lemont and the Great American Rail Trail, which is mentioned in the article. Cyclo-tourism is an as-yet-unfulfilled promise of the Chicago area.
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Readers should find out more about the Major Taylor Trail and the hero who is its namesake: Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor.
To the Tribune, let’s include everyone.
— Peter Taylor, Friends of the Major Taylor Trail, Chicago
Congressman is incorrect
In response to U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s recent letter regarding the NFL’s investigation into Daniel Snyder’s deplorable behavior (“NFL investigation,” April 23), Krishnamoorthi states that he decided “that Congress had a responsibility to get involved.” Unfortunately, I believe he stepped out of bounds.
The NFL is a private enterprise, and while it affects millions of Americans, it is still not a public business, and our government has no right to get involved in any way, shape or form, regardless of the egregiousness of purported acts. If laws were broken, we have state and local authorities to investigate and indict. If any people were infringed upon detrimentally, there is a legal process that can be taken in civil court.
With the overwhelming issues we have in many areas, we need our representatives to address those issues. How about the ridiculous government spending that has spiraled us into tremendous inflation? How about finding the ways and means to re-secure Social Security? How about investigating the decision-making process that led to billions of taxpayer dollars being wasted by leaving our military equipment behind in Afghanistan?
There are numerous concerns that the American people would want investigated. We do not want or need two Democratic members of Congress to bring forth investigations into private enterprises.
Spend the time and taxpayer dollars for things that we the people really need and care about.
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— Dave Roberts, Frankfort
Definition of criminal behavior
Arson, assault, robbery, gun use, destruction of private and public property, obstruction of public transportation: According to Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, based on his four years of teaching middle school, these incidents downtown and at 31st Street Beach were the result of bad decisions made by young people. According to attorney and state Rep. Kam Buckner in his op-ed, that weekend’s participants “may be loud and disruptive, but that’s not a crime” (“It takes a village to help our teens in Chicago,” April 25). My question to these gentlemen, then, is: What exactly constitutes criminal behavior in their playbook?
During his campaign, if I remember correctly, Johnson noted he had an advantage over fellow runoff candidate Paul Vallas by being familiar with the problem of crime: Johnson’s is a neighborhood of violence, one where young people are “starved of opportunities in their own communities.”
Is it safe to assume that Johnson’s children, pictured with him on election evening, were not involved in the chaos two Saturdays ago? If they were not, would that fact have anything to do with the observations by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Ald. Raymond Lopez and Tribune columnist Laura Washington (“Summer’s already here. Brandon Johnson needs a plan and to make peace with police.,” April 24) regarding the role of parental and guardian responsibilities?
The village begins there, attorney Buckner.
— Mary Stamler, Chicago
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Faster ballgames are great
Implicit in Sheldon Jacobson’s op-ed on the pitch clock is that slow and deliberate builds excitement (“Unintended consequences of the pitch clock in baseball,” April 26). That is not my experience, and my history disputes it. I have no statistics to back this up, only my feelings and those of my friends.
In the 1980s and ’90′s, several of my friends and I shared weekend and night games. Universally, we loved Greg Maddux and his fast two-hour games. Defense was always on their toes, and the game moved competently and was incredibly exciting. And, universally, we all hated Rick Sutcliffe’s style: 3 1/2 hours of boredom. He, too, was great but so slow.
I am a lifelong fan and noticed all games had drifted to the 3.5-hour mark.
I watched this season and noticed that a phrase has left my baseball lexicon: “Throw the damn ball already!” I love the game all the more now. I only wish television wouldn’t show the clock. I don’t need it. The pitchers do.
— Lawrence A. Szymanski, Flossmoor
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