Forest Park’s new three-year infrastructure plan calls for the completion of several long-discussed projects, green alley improvements and lead service line removal – and some major projects could be on deck as soon as this year.
The plan, which was prepared by long-time village engineering consultant, Rosemont-based Christopher B. Burke Engineering, is more of a guideline than a binding document. The village council has to approve every single project on a case-by-case basis, and the timing of the projects may change based on funding available.
This year is packed with projects – most notably, the long-discussed multi-use bike and walking path along the section of Van Buren Street that runs along the historic Altenheim property, bike racks at Forest Park’s two Blue Line ‘L’ stations, Madison Street corridor improvements and redoing new, green alleys. One major question mark hanging over the plan is the repairs of the village reservoir under Mohr Community Center playground. Until the inspection is completed, the village won’t know how much money it will need to spend.
Burke representative Jim Amelio told the village council that the firm and the village staff decided to do a three-year plan because the five-year plan for 2018 through 2022 ended up being too far out and got disrupted by the pandemic. The firm put together a one-year plan for 2023 as a stopgap measure. The three-year span is far enough along to plan ahead, but short enough to reduce the risk of things going off the rails.
Amelio said that he put together the list after discussing potential projects with interim village administrator Rachell Entler, Department of Public Works director Sal Stella and commissioner of streets and public improvements Michelle Melin-Rogovin. He added that 2024 is packed with projects because it’s the closest year and thus easier to predict.
The long-discussed Van Buren Multi-Use Path would run on the west side of Van Buren Street, between Madison Street and the start of the Illinois Prairie Path trail. In the long run, it would link to the proposed south extension of the Des Plaines River Trail, which would run along Thatcher Avenue in River Forest and along Madison Street in Forest Park. The project has stalled because the Altenheim retirement community still owns some of the parcels that the path would be built over, and they are negotiating with the village for a possible land swap in order to straighten out some of the awkward property lines it was left with after the village bought a significant portion of the property back in 2001.
The village already received a $247,500 Invest in Cook grant to cover the project costs. Burke Engineering estimated that the project will cost $616,000, and the infrastructure plan indicated that the remaining $368.500 will come from the village’s VIP Fund.
The bike racks project is another carryover. In late October 2021, Forest Park received an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant, which uses a combination of state and federal funds, to cover 90% of the costs of putting up bike racks at Blue Line’s Forest Park terminal and Harlem/Eisenhower stations. When the bids for the project came back higher than expected, the state agreed to proportionately increase its share – and the village agreed to raise its share. According to the plan, ITEP will cover $146,364 and the village will use the VIP Fund to pay the remaining $16,263,
Madison Street project will represent the corridor’s biggest refresh in over two decades. The village will put a new gateway sign at the northeast corner of Madison Street and Harlem Avenue. Burke is currently developing sign designs, and the council will still need to approve the final one. Contractors will also repaint the light poles, bollards and cabinet, redo the pavement markers, and replace damaged benches, bike racks and garbage cans. They will also be repaving sidewalks and redoing tree wells, the holes in the ground the trees were planted in, because the trees have grown since they were planted back in 1999.
The plan allocates $300,000 for the VIP fund to cover the project costs.
The plan assumes that the village will receive a $2.66 million forgivable loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to help cover the costs of replacing lead service lines on private property. The Illinois Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act, which took effect at the start of 2022, requires Forest Park to replace all of its service lines, including the parts that are on private property, by at least 2040. In November, the village applied for the IEPA loan to help cover the costs of lead line replacement in the area between Harrison Street, Harlem Avenue, Roosevelt Road and Cricle Avenue. The remaining $264,000 will come from the village’s Water Fund, which uses money from water bill payments.
Most of the items planned for 2025 and 2026 are routine street maintenance. For 2026, Burke recommended repaving the section of Jackson Boulevard between Desplaines Avenue and Harlem Avenue, replacing the existing water main with higher-capacity, separate water and sewer lines in the process. Forest Park already did a similar project on the section of Jackson Boulevard between Desplaines Avenue and Madison Street. The project is expected to cost $2.4 million, with $800,000 coming from federal grants, $400,000 coming from the motor fuel tax revenue and $1.2 million coming from the water fund.
The reservoir under the community center is one of the two reservoirs the village uses to store drinking water it receives from Chicago before sending it out throughout Forest Park. The village’s long-term goal is to completely redo the playground on top of it. But until the inspection is complete and the repairs are made, the project is paused. The infrastructure plan doesn’t include the playground project – just a line item for whatever repairs the village will need to make.
“We are currently doing a structural assessment of the reservoir,” Amelio said. “We’ll be coming back to the board with recommendations.”