Pace to Hold Public Hearings on West Suburban Routes 305 and 315

Submitted by Pace.

Pace planners have identified opportunities to make improvements to routes 305 Cicero-River Forest and 315 Austin-Ridgeland. The proposals are the topic of a pair of public hearings to be held Aug. 4 and 5 as Pace seeks input from customers on the restructuring plans.

Route 305 provides weekday and Saturday service between the CTA Green Line Harlem Station in Oak Park and Morton College in Cicero, and Sunday service between the CTA Blue Line Forest Park Transit Center and 35th/Austin in Cicero. The proposed plan calls for restructuring the route to improve connections to other transit service, increase the hours of service on all days and reduce duplication of service where Route 305 overlaps other bus routes or where service is proposed to be added. The Route 305 hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 4, between 4:00pm and 6:00pm at the Cicero Public Library, located at 5225 W. Cermak Road in Cicero.

Route 315 provides weekday and Saturday service between the CTA Green Line Ridgeland Station in Oak Park and Madison/Austin in Chicago. Pace’s proposal calls for splitting Route 315 into two separate routes in order to serve new destinations and improve connectivity with other transit services, offer all-new Sunday service on Austin Boulevard and adjust the hours of service and frequency of off-peak weekday andSaturday service. The public hearing for Route 315 will take place between 4:00pm and 6:00pm on Wednesday, August 5, in the Oak Park Village Hall Board Room, located at 123 Madison Street.

“Analyzing ridership and customer demand is the foundation of our planning process, but we also rely heavily on customer input,” said Pace Chairman of the Board Richard Kwasneski. “We hope that people take advantage of the opportunity to work with us as we redesign these routes to help us identify any other opportunities for improvement or adjustments to the plans that should be made.”

Those unable to attend the public hearings can submit commentary online in the Public Hearing Comment Form as PaceBus.com or via post to Pace External Relations, 550 W. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005. A report of all input received will be provided to the Pace Board of Directors prior to their September 9 meeting, at which the board is expected to vote on the proposed changes. If approved, the service changes tentatively would be implemented on November 22, 2015.