Planning Programs and Projects

The Village of Maywood seeks assistance from the RTA and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) who are partnering together to conduct a study of the Roosevelt Road corridor in southern portions of the Village, from 1st Avenue on the east to 13th Avenue on the west. The goal of the Roosevelt Road Corridor plan is to identify immediate, near term and long-term opportunities for, as well as the feasibility of a number of economic development projects including, the potential for infill housing, mixed-use development, and the bolstering of commercial development along the corridor. Additionally, they seek to improve the curb appeal and pedestrian access to transit, businesses, and the Hines VA Hospital, Madden Mental Health Center, and Loyola's Medical campus. By partnering with adjacent villages, institutions, and stakeholders the Village will be able to better to coordinate a more detailed plan for the corridor's future, creating a more accessible and safe environment for the community.

The Village of Morton Grove seeks RTA assistance to develop  the Dempster Street Corridor Plan. The study area would travel the length of Dempster Street from Central Avenue on the east to Harlem Ave on the west, within the Village limits. Over the past two decades, major shifts in transportation infrastructure, demographics, the environment, and the economy have affected the established Dempster Street corridor and produced new challenges. An updated Dempster Street Corridor Plan will help Morton Grove respond to those shifts and address emerging issues head-on. The recent addition of Pace’s Pulse bus rapid transit service have improved Dempster Street’s function as an efficient transportation corridor. However, issues related to shallow lot depth, access management, evolving parking needs, and adjacency to established single-family neighborhoods have hindered the corridor’s ability to function as an economic engine for the community. The Corridor Plan is needed to provide a cohesive vision for Dempster Street that leverages and connects transit assets, expands retail and employment-generating development, identifies parking solutions, and identifies complementary opportunities for new housing. The Village desires a new vision for the Dempster Street corridor to encourage reinvestment, support existing and future business, and provide needed services and amenities to the community. In addition, the Village hopes to broaden diversity in housing choices along the corridor, attract investment and development, and better manage parking.

The RTA is providing the Village of Plainfield Phase II engineering and construction funds to build a 0.6 mile extension of a 10' wide shared-use path along the south side of 143rd Street from Van Dyke Road to Wallin Drive. Wayfinding signage to the Plainfield Park-n-Ride and downtown Plainfield will be included along the route. These improvements will better connect residents to transit and downtown Plainfield. 

The Village sought RTA assistance to conduct a Developer Dialogue that solicited feedback from members of the private development community on Village strategies to attract development at seven Village-owned parcels in the downtown area near the Round Lake Metra station. The developer dialogue was a follow-on activity to implementing the Village's Comprehensive and Downtown Plans. The Village has enhanced motivation to sell and approve development of the Village owned properties that have been vacant and under Village control for many years, and desired developer input to refine their strategy for doing so.

The Waukegan Port District and the City of Waukegan partnered for a Developer Dialogue through the RTA as support to implement the Waukegan Port District Master Plan. The Master Plan includes various concepts for redevelopment Port District land, 1/10th of a mile from the Waukegan Metra station and several Pace bus routes, to improve the economic vitality of the waterfront and to better connect the waterfront to transit services and downtown Waukegan. Through a dialogue with developers, the Port District and City of Waukegan were given recommendations for how to identify the most beneficial and impactful method to develop the identified opportunity sites. A Final Report was created by the RTA to give the Port District and City of Waukegan clear action items that can be used to initiate redevelopment. 

The RTA provided assistance to the City of Des Plaines in soliciting guidance and advice from development experts through a half-day discussion panel. This panel discussed the development climate and potential strategies to prepare for and attract development to specific parcels near the the intersection of Lee and Oakton Streets, adjacent to Pace Route 250 and future stations for the Pace Pulse Dempster Line. The goal of the developer discussion was to provide direct insight to local public officials and landowners on the current market for development within the study area and ways in which the City can attract reinvestment adjacent to transit stations.

The RTA is supporting Equiticity, an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3), with advancing development of a community mobility center in Bronzeville, near the 51st Street Green Line station. The RTA will assist with identifying community perceptions of existing public transit; with understanding transportation’s impact on environment & personal wellbeing; with gauging the receptivity to climate-friendly mobility modes, gauging the demand for shared bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters & e-vehicles, and with obtaining feedback on design and implementation of the hub and its services. 

The RTA is assisting the City of Geneva with establishing a special financing district to implement recommendations contained in the Downtown Station-Area Master Plan. An existing Special Service Area (SSA) is in place but set to expire in 2023. The RTA will assist the City to determine whether to extend and expand the scope of the SSA and/or create a different funding source, funding generated from which would work to implement plan recommendations.

The RTA assisted the City of Joliet to develop an ETOD plan for areas of downtown adjacent to the Joliet Gateway Center, a hub for Amtrak, Metra and Pace services. The goals of the ETOD plan were to create equitable housing opportunities adjacent to public transportation that are not currently available in the downtown; increase ridership on existing public transportation routes; spur new investment in the adjacent neighborhood, including underutilized commercial buildings on Washington Street; utilize existing city-owned parking lots for shared parking opportunities; transition publicly owned land into the private sector to generate property tax revenues; and increase and stabilize property values in the immediate area.

The RTA will assist the Village of Riverdale to complete a Mobility Improvement and TOD Action Plan in transit served areas of the Village. The study area includes the 138th Street corridor, Riverdale and Ivanhoe Metra Station areas, S. Halsted Street and S. Indiana Ave. The planning efforts will also incorporate special considerations for current ADA specific infrastructure needs and outline funding opportunities the Village can pursue. The goals for this study include creating specific steps to improve access to all modes of transit within the Village, enhancing safety for residents of all abilities, identifying transit-oriented development opportunities, and creating a guide to secure implementation funding for the Village.