Plan aims to bring more shoppers, residents to downtown Bartlett

Drawing more residents and shoppers to the area near Bartlett's Metra station is the goal of a new plan that's the focus of a public hearing Thursday, and will go before village trustees for approval in the coming weeks.

Bartlett, along with the Regional Transportation Authority and Chicago-based consulting firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz, conducted a yearlong study of the area bounded by North Avenue, Devon Avenue, Prospect Avenue and Western Avenue, to determine how best to attract people and businesses to the village's downtown.

"The new plan will guide the future development of downtown Bartlett," Bartlett Economic Development Coordinator Tony Fradin said.

Making public transportation a focal point of that development could help reduce congestion and the reliance on automobiles, officials say, while increasing the residential population downtown would help boost the business climate.

The study recommends several areas for residential development, including a multifamily rental property on the southwest corner of Railroad and Berteau avenues, and a townhouse development on the southeast corner of the same intersection.

Condominiums were planned for land on the southwest corner of the intersection, but Bartlett's stock of rental housing, appealing to younger residents who may not have large families, is lacking as most of the housing surrounding downtown is single-family, Fradin said.

Another goal of the plan is to attract more shoppers downtown. The study recommends creating a better traffic flow for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, and sprucing up the streetscape.

Fradin said the downtown area began developing prior to the recession when the town center, near the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Main Street, was constructed in 2005.

"There was growth in the area and we added retail space and condos," he said.

But the development and expansion stalled with the recession, and only recently has started to pick back up.

As far as Metra ridership, weekday ridership at the Bartlett station was 1,081 passengers a day in 2014, up from 1,027 passengers in 2002. Ridership still remains lower than in 1995, when 1,213 riders boarded Metra trains daily in Bartlett.

The public hearing on the plan will begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, in the Bartlett Municipal Center, 228 W. Main St.

The transit oriented development plan can be found on the village's website at www.village.bartlett.il.us/home.