Planning Programs and Projects

Lake County combined three separate dial-a-ride services, operating in the Central Lake/Shields township area, into one service. The project initially calls for Shields Township to operate separately while the Fremont and Central Lake partners (Fremont Township, Libertyville Township, Villages of Libertyville and Mundelein) are combined. The service provides expanded dial-a-ride transportation in Lake County to seniors and individuals with disabilities residing in Central Lake County. Five municipalities and Lake County sponsor the project.

This program provides transportation and mobility management services for persons with disabilities and older adults residing in eastern Will County townships.

This program provides transportation and mobility management services for persons with disabilities and older adults residing in eastern Will County townships.

Three studies were conducted to study the feasibility, land use, and financing aspects of a new, high-quality and high-capacity transit service in southeast Cook County to provide access to downtown Chicago job opportunities and to complement local economic development efforts.

In 2000 Metra completed the South Suburban Commuter Rail Feasibility Study which examines the potential for implementing Metra commuter rail service on a new radial line to serve suburbs in southeastern Cook and northeastern Will Counties. The proposed route focuses on utilizing the jointly owned tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and CSX Transportation (the railroad subsidiary of the multi-modal CSX Corporation) between Beecher and Dolton, with several options to connect with other lines to reach downtown Chicago. This Phase I Feasibility Study is the first step in a longer process to ascertain not only the potential demand for this proposed new service, but also how it might reach eventual implementation. The Study was a collaborative effort, sponsored by the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA), who provided the necessary funding. The Study is organized into four major tasks or milestones, all aimed at providing a methodological and objective means of formulating Study recommendations. The four major sections are: Existing Conditions, Potential Operations, Future Plans, and Capital Improvements.

Phase I - Land Use and Local Financing Study Study completed in 2005 with sponsorship by Village of South Holland and South Suburban Mayors & Managers Association (SSMMA)

The Phase I Study was conducted to explore key land use and financial planning considerations related to a potential commuter rail connection between Chicago's downtown Loop district and various communities southeast of the City. A primary goal of the study was to ensure that residents, businesses and organizations would have a say in how communities could support and plan for commuter rail. This included discussion about station locations, development potential in the area around stations, generation of required local matching funds for station design and construction.

Phase II - Land Use and Local Financing Study Study completed in 2007 with sponsorship by South Suburban Mayors & Managers Association (SSMMA)

The Phase II Study, examines in more detail several recommendations in the Local Finance chapter of the Phase I report. It also presents information on how the communities can begin to initiate formal intergovernmental agreements to govern creation, management and oversight of a joint funding pool to help pay for the land acquisition and construction of stations and parking facilities along Metra's proposed SouthEast Service commuter rail line.

Improvements include covered and non-covered bicycle parking, as well as an ADA ramp at the Village's Yellow stations. The Dempster station will receive 36 additional bicycle parking spots, an improved sidewalk connection to the bicycle parking, and an ADA accessible ramp. At Oakton-Skokie station, bicycle parking will be added to accommodate 30 additional bicycles.

This project will convert all of the bus stops in the City of Evanston from flagged to posted stops and include the installation of ADA compliant bus stop pads. In addition, this project will install shelters, pedestrian signals, truncated domes, and new and replaced sidewalk to further enhance the new bus stops. Shelters are proposed for stops with 20 average daily boardings.

The RTA is assisting the CTA with developing a strategy for bus route enhancements that will address slow zones along CTA Bus Route #8 - Halsted Street. The strategies are being developed in coordination with other transportation analyses along the corridors. The improvements will work to speed bus operations in persistent congested areas and accommodate expected growth in the North Branch area with improved transit service.

This project proposes a planning study to determine if there are efficiencies to be achieved by consolidating or coordinating service delivery and support services associated with the transportation programs of eight human service agencies (Ray Graham, Little City, CTF Illinois, Clearbrook, New Star Services, Park Lawn Services, Sertoma Center and Blue Cap). This is a new project proposal and is directly derived from the HSTP goals.