Bartlett streetscape near completion
Bartlett officials announced Wednesday that the village is in the final stages of completing a more than $1 million “streetscape” project on West Bartlett Road between Route 59 and Western Avenue.
“We were hoping to try to create a very nice and inviting entrance to our downtown,” said village planner Sonya Abt. “We’re really excited about getting this done.”
The project is part of the West Bartlett Road Corridor Plan, which was adopted in 2007. Designs for the “streetscape” portion of the plan — which village officials are also hoping will encourage residents out walking or biking to come to the downtown for various events, such as the farmers market and Bartlett Festival of Arts — were made in 2009.
Improvements include 36 new LED streetlights, banner arms, hanging flower baskets and ornamental fixtures that match downtown streetlights. Abt said she expects everything to be installed by July.
In recent months, 234 new trees, including a variety of oaks, crabapples and hawthorns, have also been planted in the area.
Two bike path nodes with benches, trash and recycling receptacles, and new landscaping were completed last summer as part of the project. Both are located on West Bartlett Road, with one just west of Devon Avenue and the other just west of Regency Drive.
The cost of the entire “streetscape” project is $1,058,221, with about 57 percent covered by state and federal grants. The village received more than $570,000 through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program and another $34,000 from energy and conservation grants. The remaining cost has been built into the village’s budget since 2008, Abt said.
“We’ve paid for it little by little over the past four years,” she said.
Abt said there are no plans for other “streetscape” projects in the village, but more Corridor Plan work still needs to be done on West Bartlett Road west of Route 59 once development occurs in the area.
To view the entire plan, visit www.village.bartlett.il.us/comdev/comdev.html and click “West Bartlett Road Corridor Plan” on the bottom left side of the page.