Planning Programs and Projects

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.

The RTA assisted the DuPage County Department of Transportation to develop its first county-wide mobility framework plan. The plan offers a muti-modal analysis of the County’s existing transportation network and presents a framework of themes, goals, and strategies that the County can use to improve the connectivity and convenience of transit, pedestrian, and bicycle networks. Some of the goals contained in the plan include responding to the changing transportation market and addressing the needs of employers and residents in the County to attract and retain employees and residents.

The RTA assisted the Village with developing a TOD plan for downtown Elburn and the areas near the Elburn Metra station. Plan objectives included identifying ways to unify and connect the downtown business district with the Metra station and TOD development south of the station and identifying development opportunities that support a vibrant area serving the entire village while incorporating the Metra station as a focal point of new development.

The RTA assisted the Village with updating the zoning code for its Village Center TOD area in an effort to enable the type of development envisioned in its TOD Plan. A new Village Center designation was created with modernized parking requirements, allowable number of dwelling units per acre, allowable land uses, and revisions to the development review process.

The RTA assisted the City to update its TOD Plan that was completed in 2005 for areas surrounding the Pace Harvey Transportation Center, including the Metra station, the Pace Transportation Center, the adjacent civic campus and points west to connect to residential areas and the University of Chicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital. The plan addresses population loss and ways to leverage improvements underway at the Metra station and Transportation Center to rebuild the downtown population through higher-density, transit-supportive, quality infill development.

The RTA convened a Developer Discussion Panel in Chicago's 45th Ward to gather guidance and advice from development experts. The objective was to attract development to vacant sites and encourage infill development. The Developer Discussion Panelist helped the Ward Alderman and the City determine goals and needs in order to best utilize vacant land along North Milwaukee Avenue near the Jefferson Park Transportation Center.

The RTA assisted the Village of University Park to update its TOD plan that was completed in 2002 for the University Park Metra station. The revised study included an analysis of surrounding land uses and zoning codes, local road safety improvements and a last mile mobility strategy.

This RTA assisted the Village of Cary in the creation of the Downtown Cary Strategic Plan, a transit-oriented development plan for the area generally located within a half mile of the Cary Metra station. Particular attention was given to properties located within the first quarter mile of the station and the plan details a vision for downtown with a focus on future land use and infrastructure improvements that will help to strengthen the inner core of the community and encourage private reinvestment near the station.

The RTA assisted the Chicago Department of Transportation in identifying access to transit and mobility improvements along 31st Street from Sacramento Avenue to the city limits, particularly for non-auto users (pedestrians, transit riders, and bicyclists). This work included collecting and aggregating data of travel trends and traveler demographics in the study area and assisting with community outreach to obtain consensus on plan recommendations. The final plan includes block-by-block improvements that can be made to improve the environment for people walking, biking and using transit, thereby improving walkability and safety.

The RTA partnered with the City of Crystal Lake to create a transit-oriented development plan for the areas surrounding the Crystal Lake and Pingree Road Metra stations. The project created a development strategy for increasing the density in these areas with the goals to strengthen pedestrian walkability and to expand mixed use and transit supportive land uses for increased travel efficiency.