IDOT to Hold Meeting on Ike Concepts

Representatives from the Illinois Department of Transportation will address the Oak Park Village Board on Monday, presenting plans for an overhaul of the Austin Boulevard and Harlem Avenue ramps. 

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at , 123 W. Madison St. A project task force meeting is scheduled to meet earlier in the day, from 2-4 p.m. at the , 1110 Pleasant St. 

According to a village-issued press release, their presentation will focus on "potential interchange designs include shifting ramps from the center of the highway to either side."

Both of those locations have experienced "capacity issues," leading to ramp backups, said IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell. 

The concepts scheduled to be presented Monday are just one part of IDOT's study of expressway renovation options, which also include the addition of new lanes and expansion of mass transit options.  

One scenario stood out for local commuters and village officials — the proposal that would've had Blue Line train service stopping at Ashland near the University of Illinois at Chicago, where commuters would have to hop on a bus to continue traveling to their destination. Those ideas were later scrapped. 

Meanwhile, Oak Park is continuing its push to evaluate whether or not the roughly 1,000 buildings along the Interstate 290 corridor between Austin Boulevard and Harlem Avenue should be designated local landmarks.

Earlier: 

The idea, village officials have said, is to “sensitize” the state's transportation officials to the impact the expressway overhaul will have on the village’s architecture and history.