Planning Programs and Projects

The Hoffman Estates study recommended transit service alternatives, revised land uses and bicycle / pedestrian improvements. In 2018 Pace launched I-90 Express Bus services to the new Barrington Road Station as well as the new Route 612, Barrington Road Cirulator in Hoffman Estates.

In 2021 the former AT&T campus in Hoffman Estates opened as Metroburb, a new mixed-use district featuring office, retail and residential accommodationsin close proximity to the Barrington Station. The Woodridge study recommends the area around I-355 and 75th as the preferred location for an I-55 Bus on Shoulder park-n-ride facility. At this location, the Centerpointe of Woodridge is the preferred site due to its proximity near this interchange and site factors that support the development of park-n-ride service. Additionally, this site also has the potential to also serve as a remote park-n-ride facility with connecting service to Metra BNSF stations. Since completion of the Plan Pace has been evaluating the capacity/equipment/garage constraints of I-55 service as it related to a new Woodridge Park and Ride, as well as future development of the Bus on Shoulder corridor. The Green Bay Road final report was completed and delivered in December 2016.

The new Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line Station, funded with $50 million in City TIF funds, opened for service in February 2015. A new entertainment district between McCormick Place and the station has been developing since 2015, including the new Wintrust Arena and four new hotels, three of which provide a connection via a skybridge to McCormick Place's west building.

A 24-story, 275-unit building in the McCormick Square area and one block from the station wasa completed in 2020 and the same developer is seeking zoning approval to construct a 12-story apartment building immediately south of it, at Wabash and Cermak.

The Chicago Housing Authority has engaged a developer to redevelop the site of the former Harold Icks Homes at State and Cermak, directly across State Street from the green line station. The new development, named Southbridge, will be mixed-income, mixed-use and will include retail space as well as up to 900 rental and for-sale housing units. Phase I, which includes two mixed-use residential buildings, was completed in 2022.

The study was completed in July 2006. In June 2021 the Village of Elmwood Park purchased the vacant lot at 7505 W. Grand Avenue, across from the Metra station, to facilitate future development.

The RTA is monitoring progress and will provide technical assistance and support as needed.

The panel was held in August 2018 with members of the Village of Brookfield, ULI Chicago and the RTA in attendance. The Village continues to experience incremental growth near the Brookfield station in the form of new apartment development.

A summary report can be found to the right in Related Reports.

The plan was reviewed and adopted by the Chicago Plan Commission on December 20, 2018. The CTA completed station renovation work in 2019. The RTA further supported implementation activities by convening a panel of developer experts in June of 2021 to provide detailed guidance to attract infill redevelopment along Milwaukee Avenue.

During the summer of 2021 the People's Alley identified in the plan will be constructed in the alley between 4870 N Milwaukee and 5438 W Higgins. The alley will feaure a pedestrian plaza, new pavers, decorative overhead lights, seating and an identifying arch at the entrance.

In January of 2021 Chicago's City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate unanimously voted to approve the sale of the property at 4841 N. Lipps Ave., formerly the Jefferson Park Firehouse, to a developer with plans to convert it into a mixed used development, with a first floor brewery with residential units on the upper floors.