It used to be Chicago’s defining area code. Now 312 has a new meaning. On Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the 312 RiverRun: three parks, connected by a single path that stretches for nearly 2 miles on the Chicago River, from Belmont to Montrose.

“It combines the Riverwalk and the 606 into something new,” said Emanuel.

Elements of the 312 RiverRun have been in the planning stages for years. On Wednesday, city officials broke ground on the first phase of the path, the highly anticipated Riverview Bridge, which will, in parts, soar 18 feet above the river.

The bridge will provide pedestrians, cyclists and runners with a link between Clark Park on the east side of the river and California Park on the west. The second component of the 312 RiverRun includes repairs to the Irving Park Road bridge and the subsequent construction of an underbridge that will unite California and Horner Parks.

The vision is for the path to create a campuslike atmosphere among the three parks, which span Roscoe Village/North Center, Avondale, Irving Park and Albany Park.

The breadth of recreational opportunities offered by the parks is “second to none,” said Chicago Park District CEO and Supt. Michael Kelly, who ticked off amenities including ice rinks, tennis courts, dirt bike jumps, baseball diamonds and the WMS Boathouse rowing facility.

But accessing all of those options has been challenging for residents, with the parks cut off from each other by major roadways and the river itself, Kelly said.

With the RiverRun, people will be able to easily bike, walk or jog up and down the river between parks, he said.

The linkages will be “transformative” and another “iconic addition” to the city’s infrastructure, said Rebekah Scheinfeld, Chicago Department of Transportation commissioner.

Emanuel has long touted the Chicago River as the city’s second waterfront — a backyard to Lake Michigan’s front yard.

“These are neighborhood investments,” he said of the RiverRun. “This is for all the families who don’t want to drive to the lake. Now you can run along the water in your neighborhood.”

The 312 RiverRun represents a major step toward the goal of a continuous path along the entire riverfront. Construction of the Riverview Bridge, which will be the longest pedestrian river bridge in the city, demonstrates that it’s possible to overcome gaps along the waterway where there’s a lack of available land, said Jim Merrell, advocacy director for the Active Transportation Alliance.

“It’s a great example of creative design overcoming physical restraints,” Merrell said.

Margaret Frisbie, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River, said the trail would attract new people to the river and introduce them to the waterway’s magic, its potential and the need for ongoing activism.

“You’re building advocates to join in the work we’re doing,” Frisbie said.

Work on the Riverview Bridge is expected to run through next year and possibly into 2019, Scheinfeld said.

Repairs to the Irving Park Bridge are expected to get underway in 2018, she said.The projects are being funded with a combination of local, state and federal dollars.

CDOT Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, State Representative Jaime Andrade and Chicago Park District CEO and Superintendent Michael Kelly break ground on the Riverview Bridge. Andrade and Kelly recalled a time when UPS had designs on the land that’s now Clark Park. Thanks to funds from Openlands, the acreage was purchased for the Park District, making the 312 RiverRun possible decades later. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]

The height of the Riverview Bridge will allow recreational paddling to continue on the waterway below. [Chicago Department of Transportation]

Two CTA bus stops have been eliminated and four others moved as part of a Chicago Department of Transportation pilot project that recently added “dashed bike lanes” to a busy stretch of Milwaukee Avenue.

Brian Steele, a CTA spokesman, said the bus stop changes took effect Friday, at the start of the service day.

A CTA No. 56 Milwaukee Avenue bus stop at Milwaukee and Ashland avenues near the Polish Triangle and a No. 50 Damen Avenue stop in front of Walgreens at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. were eliminated.

There are additional bus stops in close proximity to both of the removed stops.

The eliminated stop in front of the Walgreen’s now features bright green pavement markings on the street where the bus parked, clearly marking the space for cyclists.

Steele said the new bus stop configurations are not a temporary test and as, with all stops, the CTA will “continue to monitor their performance to see if any further adjustments are needed.”

The dashed bike lanes and intersection markers were painted on the pavement late last month, and earlier this week, signs explaining the bike lanes were posted to several intersections along the 1.2-mile stretch of Milwaukee Avenue between Division Street and Western avenue where.

The bus stop changes:

• Eliminated SB Milwaukee at Ashland
• Relocated NB Milwaukee at Paulina to Farside of Intersection
• Eliminated SB Damen at Milwaukee/North
• Relocated SB Milwaukee at Caton to Farside of Intersection
• Relocated NB Milwaukee at Leavitt to Nearside of Intersection
• Relocated SB Milwaukee at Western to Farside of Inrersection

Gas prices are at their highest prices in more than a year in Chicago.

Gas costs an average of $2.71 per gallon in the city as of Friday, according to GasBuddy.com. That’s 17 cents higher than the national average of $2.54 per gallon, though the national price is also at its highest point in more than a year.

Gas prices in Chicago have jumped by 20 cents just since Aug. 20, according to GasBuddy.

There are a variety of reasons for the recent increase seen around the nation: Sellers are expecting higher demand for the holiday weekend, refineries and pipelines have faced shutdowns from tropical storm Harvey and “supply levels” have tightened in the Gulf of Mexico, according to an American Automobile Association news release

A “major” pipeline that flows north to Chicago has faced issues due to damage from the storm, according to The Associated Press.

The line can carry 660,000 barrels per day, and about 350,000 of which typically go to the Chicago area, according to Reuters.

Gas prices should drop by mid- to late September, according to AAA, as refineries in Texas aren’t expected to be out of commission for long.

 Barely a week after announcing $75,000 for sidewalk extensions around Hitch Elementary School, county officials revealed Tuesday they’ll dish out the same amount for another Northwest Side infrastructure boost: a new bike route through the heart of Edgebrook.

Bicycle paths will line Devon Avenue between Spokane and Caldwell avenues, bisecting the neighborhood’s business district and hooking up with the newly-extended North Branch Trail, officials said.

While transportation planners have yet to iron out the final details, Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) will push officials to paint shared bike lanes marked by “sharrow” symbols, instead of separated lanes. That way, the crowded street won’t be stripped of highly in-demand parking spots, according to Chris Vittorio, the alderman’s chief of staff.

Napolitano had submitted the proposal to Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who approved the project under the county’s Invest In Cook transportation grant program, the commissioner said.

“So much of the new bike infrastructure that’s come online has been Downtown,” Gainer said Tuesday. “This brings a lot of that infrastructure to the Northwest Side so people can access the trail, and go all the way up to the [Chicago] Botanic Garden if they want.”

Younger Chicagoans have shown a growing preference for two-wheeled travel, and policymakers are racing to keep up, Gainer added.

“People have always assumed the only way people get around is by car, but that doesn’t really reflect the population anymore,” Gainer said. “People want to have options, and we’ve seen an increased interest among people of all ages for biking in urban areas.”

Still, Edgebrook business owners and neighbors have made it clear that stripping the busy thoroughfare of a through lane or parking spots “won’t fly,” Vittorio said. The four-lane street has metered parking on each side, and rush hour often brings block-long backups while cars wait for Metra trains to roll through the district.

“The idea is to make a nice flow for bicycle traffic, to get them going through that downtown area safely,” he said. “But that area is really limited on parking … there’s just not enough room for a whole dedicated lane.”

The project will also see the installation of new bike racks and a “people space” with tables and benches at the corner of Devon and Kinzua avenues, Vittorio added.

Napolitano will likely schedule a public meeting to unveil the details before the end of August, and the project is set to be completed by the spring “at the latest,” Vittorio said.

A 1½-mile stretch of highly-trafficked Ridge Avenue is set to get a makeover next week.

Starting Tuesday, crews from the Illinois Department of Transportation will be working to resurface and re-strip Ridge Avenue from Devon to Fargo.

The project will also include making a parallel sidewalk more pedestrian-friendly, such as adding more sidewalk ramps for people with disabilities.

During construction, some lanes on Ridge will be closed and drivers who use the thoroughfare should expect delays, according to officials.

Work is expected to wrap up in the fall.

Logan Square and Avondale’s stretch of Milwaukee Avenue will see improvements under the same city plan that is bringing new transportation infrastructure and traffic changes to Wicker Park’s main hub.

As part of the city’s “Complete Streets” initiative, the Chicago Department of Transportation is set to host its first public meeting on the subject from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Aug. 30 at Logandale Middle School, 3212 W. George St.

The goal of the meeting is to collect suggestions, identify stakeholders and gather data on traffic patterns to make the 1.1-mile stretch of Milwaukee Avenue from Logan Boulevard to Belmont Avenue more safe without sacrificing the area’s “historic integrity and the needs of [its] diverse residents,” according to the city agency.

There will be a total of three public meetings before the development phase kicks in. Construction could begin in 2020, according to the city.

Several “pilot” changes are coming to Wicker Park as soon as next month under the plan, including reducing parking spaces and eliminating bus stops while adding more pavement markings and space on the street for cyclists to gather at intersections.