Planning Programs and Projects

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development seeks assistance to conduct a corridor study of Archer Avenue, from Halsted to Cicero, to evaluate land use, zoning and development  opportunities with a focus on areas around the CTA Orange Line stations. The City will use the plan to identify key development opportunities along the corridor, align vision for the corridor with land use and zoning recommendations, and create a strategic implementation plan for the Archer Ave corridor. The study team will include the Chicago Department of Transportation to understand opportunities for enhanced pedestrian mobility and safety, bike lanes and mobility hubs, and ways to leverage the CTA public transit assets. The City desires to increase transportation resilience along the corridor as well as identify strategies to attract investment and encourage transit-oriented development in a way that will attract new retail development and jobs while retaining existing  businesses.

The Village of Morton Grove seeks RTA assistance to develop  the Dempster Street Corridor Plan. The study area would travel the length of Dempster Street from Central Avenue on the east to Harlem Ave on the west, within the Village limits. Over the past two decades, major shifts in transportation infrastructure, demographics, the environment, and the economy have affected the established Dempster Street corridor and produced new challenges. An updated Dempster Street Corridor Plan will help Morton Grove respond to those shifts and address emerging issues head-on. The recent addition of Pace’s Pulse bus rapid transit service have improved Dempster Street’s function as an efficient transportation corridor. However, issues related to shallow lot depth, access management, evolving parking needs, and adjacency to established single-family neighborhoods have hindered the corridor’s ability to function as an economic engine for the community. The Corridor Plan is needed to provide a cohesive vision for Dempster Street that identifies parking solutions, leverages and connects transit assets, expands retail and employment-generating development, and identifies complementary opportunities for new housing. The Village desires a new vision for the Dempster Street corridor to encourage reinvestment, support existing and future business, and provide needed services and amenities to the community. In addition, the Village hopes to broaden diversity in housing choices along the corridor, attract investment and development, and better manage parking.

The Village Hazel Crest seeks RTA support to develop an Equitable TOD Plan for areas west of the Hazel Crest Metra station, leveraging the transportation assets in the area to balance investment and begin to deliver community benefits through greater pedestrian, bicycle and commuter activity. The Village would use a new plan to  coordinate Village, County, state and federal resources for the station area, which has experienced disinvestment relative to the  rest of Hazel Crest. Having TOD related investment would also further Village goals to create an Arts District in the study area, with programming and related building improvements to Village-owned vacant buildings, with the intension to convert into an adaptive reuse as a Center for the Arts. Improved pedestrian walkability and added bicyclist safety installments would benefit artists and the overall residential and commuter base living near the Hazel Crest Metra station. Lastly, the Village would like to identify further investment in the area for higher density, high quality multi-family workforce housing that would serve a number of workers with high quality housing near the Metra station, with quality amenities at a reasonable price point that does not exist today.

The Village of Itasca seeks RTA support for zoning code updates that will allow the types of development envisioned in the Village's adopted Downtown Itasca Strategic Action Plan, completed through the RTA's Community Planning program. The Village's existing code needs modifications to modernize the code to better align with best practices and other Village initiatives. Zoning amendments will be centered on downtown Itasca and areas surrounding the Itasca Metra station, and will include such tasks as drafting tables for dimensional standards as well as uses, address parking ratios for mixed use developments, develop unified design guidelines for Downtown Itasca, as well as develop specific guidelines for the Itasca Historic District. 

The City of Lockport seeks RTA assistance to develop an ETOD Plan for the downtown area of Lockport including the area surrounding the Lockport Metra station. The study area encompasses the National Historic District, future growth areas south of the Metra station, north to connect with the Star Innovation District and a changing neighborhood east to Madison, inclusive of the Freshman Center in the historic Central High School. The goals with the new plan would be to update the original 2009 downtown plan to reflect the changes that have occurred over the past 15 years in the central downtown and extend the study area south to capture the underserved Fairmount area and the Taft School District. Both areas are heavily reliant on residential tax dollars which have been lacking. The City would like to build off continued success in the central downtown to identify the future for some legacy properties that could be improved and generate additional revenue in the southern portions of the study area. The City would like to extend the plan north to contemplate changes that will occur as a result of the Star Innovation District and the frontage along State Street on both the east and west sides of the street.

The Village of Maywood seeks assistance from the RTA and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) who are partnering together to conduct a study of the Roosevelt Road corridor in southern portions of the Village, from 1st Avenue on the east to 13th Avenue on the west. The goal of the Roosevelt Road Corridor plan is to identify immediate, near term and long-term opportunities for, as well as the feasibility of a number of economic development projects including, the potential for infill housing, mixed-use development, and the bolstering of commercial development along the corridor. Additionally, they seek to improve the curb appeal and pedestrian access to transit, businesses, and the Hines VA Hospital, Madden Mental Health Center, and Loyola's Medical campus. By partnering with adjacent villages, institutions, and stakeholders the Village will be able to better to coordinate a more detailed plan for the corridor's future, creating a more accessible and safe environment for the community.

The Village seeks RTA assistance to conduct a Developer Dialogue to solicit feedback from members of the private development community on Village strategies to attract development at seven Village-owned parcels in the downtown area near the Round Lake Metra station. The developer dialogue would be a follow-on activity to implementing the Village's Comprehensive and Downtown Plans. The Village has enhanced motivation to sell and approve development of the Village owned properties  that have been vacant and under Village control for many years, and seeks a refined strategy in doing so.

The Waukegan Port District and the City of Waukegan seek a Developer Dialogue through the RTA as support to implement the Waukegan Port District Master Plan. The Master Plan includes various concepts for redevelopment Port District land, 1/10th of a mile from the Waukegan Metra station and several Pace bus routes, to improve the economic vitality of the waterfront and to better connect the waterfront to transit services and downtown Waukegan. Through a dialogue with developers, the Port District seeks to identify the most beneficial and impactful method to develop the site and to gather strategies in creating and implementing the developer selection process.

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.

The RTA is supporting Equiticity, an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3), with advancing development of a community mobility center in Bronzeville, near the 51st Street Green Line station. The RTA will assist with identifying community perceptions of existing public transit; with understanding transportation’s impact on environment & personal wellbeing; with gauging the receptivity to climate-friendly mobility modes, gauging the demand for shared bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters & e-vehicles, and with obtaining feedback on design and implementation of the hub and its services.