Clarendon Hills Plans New Train Stations, Downtown Improvements

CLARENDON HILLS, IL — The village of Clarendon Hills is planning a downtown revitalization which will include a remodeled train station. The village said the current station is tiny and outdated and a recent analysis conducted by FGM Architects identified that the station is in need of over $1 million in repair.

Village President Len Austin called the 1970s-era station “an out-of-date facility no longer meeting the needs of village’s residents and business community.”

According to the village, the old station will be torn down later this year and a new station, including canopies, enclosed waiting and covered bike shelters will be built. The station’s parallel alignment to the tracks will also mean much better views to approaching trains.

“When people see this station,” Austin said in a release, “they’ll get a sense of what this community is about. And they might just think about moving here or opening a business in our community.”

The village said the station, designed by Legat Architects, will also have a green roof and rain gardens to reduce stormwater runoff.

“We designed the station with just the essentials, so the village can realize this community amenity while minimizing expense,” said director of community development Dan Ungerleider. "It's not trying to take attention away from otherbuildings, but rather intrigue people about Clarendon Hills.”

Ungerleider anticipates that the revived station and corresponding streetscape improvements will bring some of the same energy of Prospect Avenue, Clarendon Hills’ main thoroughfare, to the rapidly evolving Burlington Avenue.

The village is also planning on various other downtown projects including streetscape improvements, a shared vehicle/bike lane, reducing the distance pedestrians must walk to cross the street and a revamped Festival Plaza. The village said there will also be new double railroad crossing gates on Prospect Avenue which will prevent drivers and pedestrians from going around the current single gates.

The village has received $4 million over the past several years from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program, the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, the West Suburban Mass Transit District, the Illinois Commerce Commission Gate Crossing Protection Fund, and the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority. These funds cover close to 50 percent of the cost for the new station and bike shelters, pedestrian and vehicular crossing gates at Prospect Avenue, and intersection improvements at Golf, Burlington and Prospect avenues, the village said.

Images via village of Clarendon Hills.