Planning Programs and Projects

The study was completed in January 2007. The Village surveyed area employers within the station area in summer of 2010 to identify any needed revisions to Pace Bus Route #626, which serves the station. Upgrades were made to the route shortly after.

Buffalo Grove was also chosen as part of the 2011 RTA Community Planning Program of Projects to update their zoning regulations in both station areas to include transit-supportive regulations. This project began in the 4th Quarter of 2011 and updated regulations & design guidelines for both station areas were completed in August 2012. 13 new townhomes were built in the Waterbury Place development within the Prairie View TOD area in 2013, but these units were approved for development prior to the start of the TOD zoning project. In spring of 2016 the Easton Station project broke ground in the Prairie View station area just west of I-94 and just south of Route 22. The development will consist of 15 luxury townhomes.

In 2019 the Village completed an update to the Prairie View plan and is now working to implement the revised vision. The updated plan calls for single-family homes and townhouses clustered around more than 12 acres of park space; a central area with a mix of uses, including single-family homes, multifamily housing and commercial properties, along with a gateway paying tribute to the neighborhood's history; and a south area featuring townhouses and a mixed-use building overlooking a plaza. The RTA continues to track development progress in both station areas and offer implementation assistance when appropriate.

The study was completed in November 2006. In 2010, the Village was awarded $900,000 through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) for streetscape enhancements to Ardmore Avenue.

Additionally, the Village was chosen as part of the 2012 RTA Community Planning Program to update their zoning regulations in their TOD study area. New zoning districts were created through this project and the Village adopted the new regulations on July 8, 2013. The new TOD area zoning regulations can be found here. As a follow-up in 2013, the RTA worked with ULI to convene a panel of development experts to provide guidance and advice to the Village on ways to attract development in the TOD area.

In July 2021, the Village Board voted to approve a proposed $120 million mixed-use apartment building northwest of the Villa Park Metra station. The seven-story, 348-unit complex is to be located on 1.69 acres of a block bounded by East Vermont Street on the north, North Beverly Avenue on the east, West Terrace Street to the south and North Ardmore Avenue to the west and will feature first floor retail space. The developer broke ground on the project 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.

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.

In 2010, Pace funded a Transit Signal Priority Project for the Harvey Transportation Center. Testing of the full deployment of TSP was completed in August 2010. Twenty signalized intersections along 158th, Sibley Boulevard, Halsted and Park Avenue were deployed in Phase I, and in Phase II 10 signalized intersections were deployed along Halsted Street. This project helped to improve circulation and movement within the downtown area, as recommended in the plan.

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.