La Grange Park is refurbishing its main commercial areas, and village officials want input from residents on the Village Market Paint and Post pilot project. This initiative emerges from the Village Market Streetscape Improvement Plan approved by the Village Board in 2023. According to village planner Derek Rockwell, the project includes installing white posts, which create a temporary curve, and painting around these posts and crosswalks.
The pilot project is currently in the feedback phase, and a survey is available on the village website under the ‘government’ section. The site includes a short film showing staff working on the project, and there’s access to the Improvement Plan text.
This project aims to enhance pedestrian friendliness, focusing on the intersections of Sherwood Road and Woodlawn Avenue, and Homestead Road. The posts, also known as ‘bollards,’ are intended to reduce intersection geometry and slow traffic, providing a calming effect, planners state. The new walkways and posts are meant to encourage foot traffic from shoppers and residents around Homestead Apartments to visit Jewel Foods and other merchants in the Village Market.
“Newly placed bollards and painted pavement at the corner of Homestead and Sherwood roads in La Grange Park are meant to improve pedestrian safety as part of the village’s Paint and Post pilot program.”
The village owns the roads involved in the pilot, so no approval is needed from the Illinois Department of Transportation. However, approval will be necessary for modifications on major roads like La Grange Road and 31st Street. This pilot is set to conclude within 12 months and is limited to the Village Market area. Based on results and resident feedback, similar tactics may be considered for other village sections, such as the 31st Street corridor.
Rockwell noted that the project is an ongoing process of evaluation. “We are in the midst of doing that research,” he said. Pre-installation vehicle and pedestrian traffic counts have been completed, and current counts are being compared to those initial figures. This data, supplemented by survey feedback, provides both technical and community perception insights.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.