Planning Programs and Projects

Specific physical coordination improvements are being developed through the RTA's Community Planning and Sub-Regional Planning Programs and are being implemented through the RTA's Innovation, Coordination & Enhancement (ICE) Program.

Phase I of the nine-building Cardinal Square development, an 84 unit building located directly east of the Metra Station, was completed and occupied in 2008. Phase II, a 65 unit building, was completed in 2015. As of October 2022, construction of Phase III (180 units) is ongoing and nearing completion. The Village, in partnership with Weston Solutions, broke ground on a new mixed-use biulding in April of 2013. This new building is part of a larger redevelopment of the Village Center and will include a new village hall and new retail/office space. Construction is completed and the Village held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 6, 2014. As part of this project, the Village also constructed a new public right-of-way, Plaza Circle, to provide better access to the Metra station and Village Hall. In October 2022, the Village approved a redevelopment plan for a 165 unit development adjacent to the new Village Hall on Plaza Circle. To implement these projects, which were central recommendations of the 2005 TOD plan, the Village purchased ten acres of land previously occupied by an industrial building. The tenant of the building was relocated to another Village-owned property immediately south of the Metra commuter parking lot.

In an effort to improve pedestrian circulation in the station area, the Village designed and constructed a pedestrian overpass at the Metra station. The project was awarded CMAQ funding in October 2015 and was completed in October 2022. In fall of 2015, construction began on Fairhaven Crossing, a 40 unit affordable residential development for families and individuals with disabilities located on Hawley Street within convenient walking distance of the Metra station. Construction was completed in fall of 2016 and the building is currently occupied.

In 2020 the Village purchased a former recycling center at 101 E. Maple in Mundelein's downtown district to encourage new retail or resident development of the site, which would be more fitting with the rest of the downtown area. In October 2022, construction began on a 139 unit development at this location, bounded by Morris Ave, Park St. Seymour Ave, and Maple Ave. The Village is also constructing water/sewer, roadway, and pedestrian infrastructure improvements on Seymour Ave, Morris Ave, and Park St to support the development. Construction is expected to wrap up in Spring 2024.

This project was completed in January 2005. Per a recommendation in the plan, the Village enhanced the streetscape along 7th Street in the TOD area in 2010 with funding assistance from ITEP. Currently, the Village is exploring ways to market their harbor and adjacent proximity to Lake Michigan as a destination and development opportunity for condos, hotel and retail. The Village was chosen as part of the 2012 RTA Community Planning Program for assistance revising their zoning code in the TOD area. This project began in April 2013 and new TOD area zoning regulations were adopted in May 2014. The adopted regulations can be found here.

The Cook-DuPage Corridor Travel Market Analysis final report was published in December 2005. The second phase of study, Options Feasibility, was begun in early 2006 and completed in mid 2008. The RTA officially closed the Cook DuPage Corridor Study in April 2009.

All of the major capital projects in the region including Cook-DuPage Corridor proposed projects for system expansion now are being evaluated by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for the Go To 2040 Plan. In addition, many of the projects in the recommended system are now moving to a more concrete stage of development through specialized studies undertaken by project sponsors. A Blue Line extension, High Occupancy Vehicle Lane and I-290 Bus Rapid Transit will undergo more detailed cost-effectiveness, ridership, environmental and engineering study through the Illinois Department of Transportation's (IDOT) Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Study (Phase 1). Additional information is available on the project website at www.eisenhowerexpressway.com. Similaly, Bus Rapid Transit is undergoing similar analysis in IDOT's ongoing Elgin-O'Hare West By-Pass Study.

This project was completed in May 2005. In late November 2011, it was announced that the West Cook County Housing Collaborative received a nearly $3 million grant for its transit-oriented development strategy to update comprehensive plans and to create a sustainable transit-oriented development fund for the communities of Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood and Oak Park. The communities are completed Comprehensive Plans that include recommendations for priority redevelopment parcels in each community's TOD area. 

Many development projects have been completed in the Village's TOD areas. Construction was completed on a 21-story mixed-use building at Lake Street and Forest Avenue, called Vantage Oak Park, in summer of 2016 with the first units occupied in July. The development includes 270 rental apartments, 25,000SF of ground-level retail and an integrated parking garage with 288 residential spaces and 300 public spaces. Another mixed-use residential, retail and parking project, called Oak Park Station, opened in late 2017 on the Village-owned Westgate site between Lake Street and North Boulevard just east of Harlem Avenue. Oak Park Station features a 20-story tower and five-story building that include 270 rental apartments, 28,000 square feet of retail and a five-story parking garage with 428 spaces for residential, retail, and public use. Additionally, a new transit-oriented development on the southeast corner of South Boulevard and Harlem Avenue was completed in 2019. The building, known as Eleven 33, is a mixed-use structure consisting of approximately 263 rental apartments, 10,000 square feet of retail and a 400 space parking garage. These new developments encourage increased ridership on all available transit services in the downtown area by adding a significant number of residential units within walking distance of CTA, Metra and Pace service. 

The Village is also planning an extension of the Marion Street streetscape improvements west on South Boulevard to Harlem Avenue to enhance pedestrian and bicycle mobility and access to surrounding transit service. These improvements would include wider sidewalks, shorter intersection crosswalk distances improved lighting and public seating. The project is partially funded through the Transportation, Community and System Preservation Program (TCSP).