Planning Programs and Projects

This project assessed the feasibility of the City's preferred transit station location and developed a conceptual station area plan for a potential transit station located within the City on the potential Milwaukee District West Line service extension to Marengo. See Metra Marengo Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study for more information: https://metrarail.com/sites/default/files/assets/about-metra/marengofeasibilitystudy_022410.pdf.

The station area plan includes transit-oriented development recommendations as well as transit facility recommendations and implementation strategies.

Called the "Queen Suburb of Chicago" by early realtors, Western Springs is known as a community with lovely homes, great neighborhoods, and a strong sense of community. It also has a wonderful, small downtown with unique restaurants and shops centered on a Metra commuter rail station. To maintain and enhance this unique core of community life, in 2011 the Village crafted a Downtown Redevelopment Plan. The planning process involved an extensive public participation process, including a community survey, participatory workshops, a temporary storefront office for walk-in conversations about downtown, direct interviews and meetings with property owners and developers, and oversight by a steering committee. The intensive process resulted in a Plan that was adopted by the Village Board on August 22 by Ordinance 11-2643 as an amendment to the Village's Comprehensive Plan. Highlights of the plan include a wayfinding system, a renovation strategy for the overall streetscape, identification of nine potential redevelopment sites, creation of design guidelines, façade renovation sketches, implementation strategies, a marketing and promotions strategy, and examination of parking demand and identification of parking improvements.

Through this project, Pace created a new ridership forecasting application that utilizes customized market research and mode choice models. Using Pace's South Cook County, Southwest Cook County, and Will County Restructuring Initiatives as the market area for this project, the resulting data and models were used to identify opportunities for service improvements. This forecasting application will be used region-wide in each of Pace's service areas.

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.

This project developed land use recommendations to support the CTA's planned bus rapid transit (BRT) service along the Western / Ashland corridors. The work led to the identification of land use policy changes that support transit-oriented development as well as design standards to improve the experience around potential station sites, with a focus on providing pedestrian access and increasing ridership.