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Downers Grove residents got a chance last week to view proposed improvements to the streetscape of the downtown and the Fairview Avenue areas and quite literally post their thoughts about it.
During a village open house at the Downers Grove Civic Center, residents heard about a proposed plan for improvements to both downtown Downers Grove, Fairview Avenue and the area between the two locations.
Community Development Director Stan Popovich said the streetscape improvements are part of Guiding DG, a combined planning effort that includes a comprehensive plan that addresses bike and pedestrian access, environmental sustainability and the streetscape of downtown and the Fairview Avenue area.
“We are trying to enhance the physical appearance of the downtown public areas, the Fairview area and the connection between the two,” Popovich said.
The plan will serve as a road map for the village to direct future growth and development over the next 20 years.
The event followed three visioning workshops that were held in July to introduce the planning process and gain insight so that the community and planners work together to identify priorities, issues and opportunities.
At the open house, each attendee was given several Post-it notes that they used to jot down comments, suggestions or just about anything else for fellow residents, city planners and consultants to consider as the plan, which has been in the development stages for about 10 months, moves forward.
Downers Grove resident Carol Richart, who is a member of Greener Grove, a local nonprofit whose goal is protecting, preserving and creating a cleaner, more vibrant and sustainable community, said she is interested in making the town “more bike and pedestrian friendly.” Richart was one of about 75 residents who attended the event.
Other residents were concerned about removing parking, especially on busy Friday and Saturday nights when the downtown area swells with people eating dinner at one of the area’s restaurants.
Others suggested wider sidewalks because there isn’t enough space for people walking, said Jason Michnick, the village’s environmental sustainability coordinator.
“We are soliciting feedback from the community about different concepts that we are presenting for the first time,” Michnick said.
Based on the feedback, village staff and consultants will continue to make changes to the concepts and applications and continue to “refine and refine,” he said.
“For the downtown area, we are presenting two concepts,” he said.
The first makes small, subtle changes to the sidewalks while also evaluating drive lanes and intersections and retaining all on-street parking.
Under concept two, Michnick said, “We are looking at potentially removing some of the on-street parking in strategic locations to get more public space for the sidewalks.”
“Within those spaces there are flexible amenity areas where there could be anything from outdoor dining to public art to landscaping to benches,” he said.
The plan includes expanding the gathering space with additional lawn space and flexible seating at the downtown train station where “people could gather for a musical event or show,” Michnick said.
The plans would preserve the existing fountain and clock – iconic pieces of the downtown.
“At the same time, we are looking into the pedestrian plan, which serves as a vision and blueprint for building a more bikeable and walkable village, Michnick said. “It is interesting to see the connection between the two.”
Fairview Avenue proposals include specialty sidewalk paving, landscape buffers, a public area and a designated area for food trucks with appropriate power sources available.
The connection area between the two locations would include improved intersections for pedestrians, an off-street shared use path and other streetscape amenities.
“We are working for feedback and input,” said Tim King, a principal with Hitchcock Design Group, a landscape architecture firm that previously worked on the outdoor space for the new village hall and police department.
The goal of the plan is to balance the pedestrian environment with the vehicular traffic, he said.
On Fairview Avenue, the plan considers both existing businesses and future developments, King said
“We are trying to make the streetscape environment to feel more like a downtown,” he said. “It almost becomes its own little separate neighborhood center.”
In the future, there could be programming there.
“It is a neat little spot and if we can combine them together, some people will walk and some people will bike,” King said.