The closing of the Avenue Parking Garage, originally set for last Sunday has been rescheduled to next Sunday, February 19th.  The Avenue parking garage will be closed  from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. to all parking, bicycle and pedestrian customers, so that the new photovoltaic array may be lifted by a huge crane to the roof top.  The Village of Oak Park claims that this sun powered electrical generating device will create enough electricity to power the garage.  Seems to us as if the Village is wishing for a lit of sunny skies!  The direct cost to Oak Park Taxpayers is somewhere around $200,000.  Question: Will the project pay for itself before the garage falls apart?

Speaking of Sunny Skies, a new bicycle parking rack has made an appearance at the southwest corner of South Blvd and Oak Park Avenue.  We’re very fortunate that the snow over Friday was not the feared six or more inches originally forecast by the Weather Guys.  Even so, with any appreciable snowfall, how does the Village of Oak Park expect to clear the snow?  We think that there should be an over/under on when a motorist making the corner will just plow into the pylons and bicycles!

With this project and the Avenue Garage, it sure seems as if the new theme song for Oak Park might be “Blue Skies” (enjoy Willie Nelson’s 1978 version).

From our fiends at Berwyn Development Corp and the Roosevelt Road Business Association President, Paul Zimmerman

With construction substantially complete, a unified and more pedestrian-friendly Roosevelt Road welcomes back residents, visitors and commuters with the installation of traffic calming hardware. As part of the award-winning, comprehensive streetscape improvement undertaken by the City of Berwyn, Village of Oak Park and Town of Cicero, three lighted crosswalks have been installed along Roosevelt Road at the intersections of Home Avenue, Gunderson Avenue and Lombard Avenue.

The in-roadway warning lights are the first crosswalks of this type to be installed on an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) roadway. The marked crosswalks have protective lights installed directly into the roadway that flash when activated by pedestrian push-buttons. Illinois State Law requires motorists to stop for pedestrians at marked crosswalks. The LED lights increase the visibility of the crosswalk and provide an early warning to motorists to brake to a full stop for crossing pedestrians. These energy efficient lights are solar-powered.

“This is a win-win situation for businesses and their patrons and has unified the business district by creating more defined paths for pedestrians. On bustling roadways like Roosevelt Road, this type of crosswalk helps clarify right-of-way and increases everyone’s safety,” stated Paul Zimmermann, President of the Roosevelt Road Business Association. “The lighted crosswalks have been effective at reducing roadway incidents and are being used nationally with excellent results. They are a great addition to the corridor,” added Anthony Griffin, Berwyn Development Corporation Executive Director.

The entire streetscape project, spanning just over one and a half miles, consists of very few traffic signals where safe pedestrian crossing is permitted. The addition of three lighted crosswalks adds much needed safety to this pedestrian-oriented commercial corridor.

For more information about the Roosevelt Road streetscape project, visit www.rooseveltroad.com.

One of the vexing issues associated with any major municipal construction project is that the “punch list” – the odds-and-ends of any construction project, can often drag on for a very long time after the project has been substantially completed.  Kudos to Paul Zimmerman for keeping the focus on Roosevelt Road!