Planning Programs and Projects

This project was initiated in March of 2005 and is now complete. The Niles Village Board approved the Milwaukee Avenue Plan on January 24, 2006.

The Village of Niles continues to implement the BOD Plan recommendations to improve transit-oriented development and increase access to transit. Since 2008, the Village has installed paver crosswalks, decorative fencing, new traffic signal poles with arms, street furniture, sidewalks, pedestrian light poles, and street trees along Milwaukee Avenue. These improvements foster pedestrian and transit environments while spurring community and economic development.

Through the CMAP Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, a Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan was completed, and adopted by the Village in March 2014. This plan identifies steps the Village can pursue to further develop the pedestrian and bicycle networks throughout the Village.

Pace continues to advance Transit Signal Priority (TSP) and Arterial Rapid Transit (ART) along the corridor. Through an RTA Innovation, Coordination, and Enhancement (ICE) project, Pace will test the integration of transit signal priority technology that will allow CTA and Pace buses to interact with multiple types of traffic signal systems located on the same arterial.

Pace received a CMAQ grant in 2014 to fund the following components of Milwaukee Avenue ART from Jefferson Park to Golf Mill: Phase 1 Engineering, stations, real time information, ART vehicles, and queue jump lanes (where appropriate), which are elements of the Pace TSP Planning for the Milwaukee Avenue Arterial Rapid Transit. Pace held public open houses for its Milwaukee Avenue ART service in 2015 to solicit feedback.

Milwaukee Avenue was the first Pace ART line - now titled Pace Pulse - to be implemented. Construction on shelters and other supporting infrastructure began in the summer of 2017 and the line fully launched in August if 2019. For more information visit the Pace website.

Park Forest received a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (ILDCEO) for a Phase II study in summer of 2010 to explore development and financial incentives to realize recommendations in the RTA-funded study. A Steering Committee consisting of representatives from Pace, Metra, RTA and Park Forest, Olympia Fields and Matteson finalized the Phase II study in the Fall of 2012 and all three communities are now focusing on implementing the recommendations.

In June 2013 the RTA coordinated with ULI to convene a developer panel to provide guidance and advice to the Village as they work to attract TOD investment near the 211th Street Metra Station. A summary of this discussion can be found in the Related Reports. Additionally, the Village was chosen as part of the 2014 Community Planning Program to complete a pedestrian access plan around the 211th Street Metra Station, which was completed in 2015.

Specific service 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.

In addition to identifying major travel patterns and markets that could support a line extension, the study also evaluated three potential new station locations in south Evanston at Dodge Avenue, Asbury Avenue and Ridge Avenue. In May 2011, Evanston began a feasibility study for an infill station on the Yellow Line. On January 25, 2011, a city advisory group identified Asbury as the recommended new stop location. The Evanston City Council accepted the advisory group's report but funding has not yet been identified for the station's construction.

The study was completed in June, 2006. The Village is currently exploring technical assistance opportunities to update their village-wide comprehensive plan. Once this is accomplished, rezoning the TOD area is the next step. Wood Dale Station, a mixed-use condo building, was built across from the station in 2006 and additional condos were built along Irving Park Road in the TOD area. 

Wood Dale was chosen as part of the 2011 RTA Community Planning Program of Projects for assistance with developer recruitment and solicitation of opportunities in the TOD study area. A panel of development experts met in July 2012 to discuss potential redevelopment opportunities on City-owned land across from the Metra station. A summary of this discussion can be found below under Related Reports.

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.

The Village has seen major redevelopment and build-up of their downtown over the past 10-12 years with a mix of national chains and local businesses, along with condo and townhome development. 

In late 2010, Metra completed a project to upgrade and replace the platforms at the Stone Avenue Metra station and the Village renovated the interior and exterior of the historic Stone Avenue Station in partnership with Metra, BNSF Railway and the West Suburban Mass Transit District. This renovation enhances the station structure, outbound platform shelter and the grounds as an outdoor public gathering space. Additionally, the Village reconstructed the Brainard Avenue commuter parking lot with a permeable green paver integrated drainage system. 

In 2012, the RTA provided assistance to the Village through a collaborative effort with CMAP, ICC, BNSF, Metra and ATA to complete a pedestrian access improvement study at the Stone Avenue Station. The full Access Improvements report can be found below in the Related Studies section. 

In 2013 the RTA applied for CMAQ funding on behalf of the Village for these access improvements. CMAP approved the RTA's CMAQ submittal and the construction of these improvements will began in 2016. 

In August 2017 at 254 unit apartment building opened near the intersection of Ogden Avenue and LaGrange Road, a five minute walk to the LaGrange Road Metra station.]

The RTA is currently working with the Village of La Grange to update their Comprehensive and TOD Plans.

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 study (completed in 2005) addressed a proposed station at Laraway Road along the Southwest Service expansion. This expansion project, which included 11 miles of new track, was completed in January 2006, including the Laraway Road station (opened October 9, 2006). As part of the 2013 RTA Community Planning Program of Projects, the RTA worked with ULI to convene a panel of development experts to provide guidance and advice to the Village as they try to attract development to the 240-acre vacant area near the Laraway Road Metra Station. This discussion took place on October 25, 2013 and the Summary Report can be found in Related Studies. 

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).