Pace rolls out new Ogden Avenue bus plan
Pace suburban bus service will hold hearings next week to explain service changes in DuPage County that include a new, frequent bus on Ogden Avenue between Naperville, Lisle and Lombard.
Pace board members will vote on the restructuring at an April meeting. The revamp includes merging some routes, modifying others and introducing Route 722, which will circulate between the Naperville Metra station and Yorktown shopping center.
Pace hopes the redo will reach new riders from the Ogden retail/business corridor and from corporate offices located along Warrenville Road.
Route 722 will cost about $1 million annually for labor, fuel and maintenance. If approved, it could start in June.
"We believe very strongly it's an important corridor, so we're betting on it," Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot said. "Typically, it takes a bit of time to build ridership in a corridor where we don't have existing service but (local) communities have been very supportive."
The new route would run Monday to Saturday every 30 minutes, which is more frequently than the majority of routes in western DuPage towns, including Lisle and Naperville, Wilmot noted.
Specific proposals include:
• Establishing Route 722, which would travel from the Naperville Metra station along Ogden Avenue, Naperville Road, Warrenville Road, Main Street in Lisle, Ogden Avenue and Main Street in Downers Grove to Yorktown Center in Lombard. Buses would run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays.
• Rerouting Route 714 to Diehl Road and Washington Street in Naperville to avoid overlap with Route 722.
• Merging Route 829 serving the Lisle and Naperville office corridor with Route 722.
• Combining Routes 688 and 689 in Naperville.
• Combining Route 684 and 686 in Naperville.
• Discontinuing Route 464 and rolling parts of it into Route 821 and Route 462 in Downers Grove. Route 462 would be streamlined.
The hearings will occur from 5 to 7 p.m. on March 29 at Naperville city hall, 400 S. Eagle St., on March 30 at Lisle village hall, 925 Burlington Ave., and Thursday at Downers Grove Village Hall, 801 Burlington Ave.
To learn more, go to www.pacebus.com