Grant to pay for Plainfield transportation study
By Madhu Mayer For The Herald-News July 17, 2012 1:06PM
Updated: August 20, 2012 11:22AM
PLAINFIELD — A grant will help the village of Plainfield better meet the transportation needs of its residents.
The Plainfield Village Board on Monday directed Mayor Michael Collins to sign a professional service agreement with Baxter and Woodman/Teska Associates to do a transportation update study for a cost not to exceed $120,000.
Allen Persons, public works director, said the village received a $120,000 grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning late last year for the purpose of updating its transportation plan.
“The goal of this study is to consider the soon-to-be completed comprehensive plan updates, previously completed studies and plans and incorporate them into a single, more manageable document,’’ Persons said.
The study, Persons added, will also look at current and future land uses within the community with additional consideration provided for the historic downtown area. This particular project requires the consultant team to work with staff, elected officials and the public, he said.
Persons said the comprehensive transportation plan was last updated five years ago. In the meantime, the village did periodically keep record of traffic counts on its busier streets.
Persons said there’s a reason for delaying the update to the transportation plan.
“When we did the reconstruction of Route 59, it was difficult for us to do a comprehensive transportation study because people avoided the construction area and used other roadways,” which, Persons said, shifted the traffic to other sections of the village.
Persons said the project should be completed by June of next year. A kickoff meeting with staff was scheduled for Wednesday, with three public meetings to follow on Aug. 15, Dec. 19 and March 20, 2013.
