Local

Workshop Planned on Lincoln Highway Project


Transit-oriented development is join product of three municipalities

Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– A workshop on the Lincoln Highway transit-oriented development (TOD) will be held at 7 p.m. on January 17 at the Dining-on-the-Green Banquet Hall in downtown Park Forest.

The TOD is planned adjacent to the Metra station on Lincoln Highway. It is a joint venture of the Villages of Matteson, Olympia Fields, and Park Forest, since all three municipalities are contiguous to the station and have land that’s included in the TOD planning. The Village of Park Forest has been the lead partner in TOD planning for the site and the efforts have been funded through a grant awarded by Metra.

"This location offers great opportunity for positive commercial and residential development in our community," said Park Forest Mayor John A. Ostenburg. "I’m sure Mayor Linzey Jones of Olympia Fields and Mayor Andre Ashmore of Matteson are as excited about the possibilities as am I. All three of our communities can be greatly enriched if this project is successful."

Mayor Ostenburg said the Park Forest segment of the development is concentrated on the properties where the Lincoln Highway municipal parking lot and the two former automobile dealerships are located. No commuter parking would be diminished under Park Forest’s plans, but the former auto dealerships would be transformed into retail storefronts and multi-family housing.

"It’s the wave of the future to locate more housing and light commercial business close to public transportation," Mayor Ostenburg explained. "Green planning dictates that all communities have increased opportunities for folks to shop close to where they live and to live close to where they have easy access to mass transportation. We think this development can satisfy both of those ends."


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