Clarendon Hills ‘taking a step back’ from downtown plaza plan

Clarendon Hills officials have decided to put the brakes on a proposed downtown plaza on Prospect Avenue as they look to incorporate potential projects into a wider plan for the village’s downtown.

The plaza was proposed between Railroad and Park Avenues and would include the elimination of the right-turn lane, or slip lane, from southbound Prospect onto Park. That turn lane now is part of what the village calls the Sloan Triangle, an area that would become a large part of the plaza and used for gatherings.

Instead, the Village Board has approved a contract with consulting firm Houseal Lavigne to facilitate a Clarendon Hills Downtown Improvement Plan for an amount not to exceed $75,000. A plaza could be part of that plan, but the study is about the entire downtown and not about a plaza, village President Eric Tech said.

“There are a lot of different views on how we want to use our downtown,” he said. “We’re taking a step back and looking at what we’re trying to achieve here.”

Assistant village manager Mera Johnson said the concept of converting the Sloan Triangle into a plaza by closing the west turn lane was raised in 2023 and again this year.

She said In 2023, the village conducted a traffic study, which determined that the proposed change would not have a major impact on traffic. Following discussion at a Downtown Design Review Meeting, the project did not progress beyond the study phase.

The plaza concept was revisited this year as a way to create a more efficient space for outdoor dining on the west side of Prospect Avenue and to provide an alternative that would reduce the need for street closures, Johnson added.

“Additional factors considered included prior planning documents, accessibility, pedestrian safety, parking and aesthetics,” she said. “Over the past several months, further questions have been raised regarding crosswalks, parking, traffic flow, wayfinding, the alleys adjacent to Prospect Avenue and the potential impacts on existing and future businesses.”

So now, the village plans to employ a five-month process that includes opportunities for feedback, facilitated by Houseal Lavigne. A community workshop has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22, with a location to be announced soon.

“The process will ultimately address the central question: How do we want to use our downtown?” Johnson said.

In a memo to the village, Houseal Lavigne recommended a three-step process for the project, including a project kick-off and upfront stakeholder engagement, plan visioning and sketch plan concept development, and a draft and final downtown improvement plan.

Houseal Lavigne previously prepared the Clarendon Hills Train Station Redevelopment Plan in May 2012.

Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.