Libertyville projects put parking in peril
Visitors, workers and commuters who have to be in and around downtown Libertyville will be in for quite a mess this summer.
Two major projects will be ongoing simultaneously. Work to rebuild the portion of Lake Street fronting Butler Lake Park has begun with construction on a long-awaited parking garage just to the east to follow in July.
Add continued construction of a condo/retail project and a building expansion virtually next door to the deck and getting around and parking is expected to be tight.
The behemoth of the bunch is the 364-space, three-tiered parking deck at the southeast corner of Lake Street and Brainerd Avenue. While there will be a net gain in sorely needed spaces downtown when it's done, 130 parking spots will be eliminated to build it.
"We have a plan to help people find parking places and move employees around," Mayor Jeff Harger said during a recent business lunch with local leaders.
"It's not built for commuters, it's built to help the businesses," and nearby Cook Memorial Library, he added.
With the gain will come pain and the village has developed a downtown parking contingency plan. That calls for converting 122 daily fee Metra commuter spaces at Milwaukee Avenue and Newberry Street and 33 spots at the American Legion to parking for shop employees and customers.
"We're going to have to be flexible until people figure out what's going on," said Police Chief Pat Carey.
Displaced commuters are being asked to relocate to the Harris Road commuter parking lot.
And because the parking deck site, which is used for commuter overflow, will be unavailable, the village will cut the number of permits issued to non-residents as of July 1.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to play hardball with commuters. We have to move them," Carey said.
In any case, the work now moves toward educating merchants. Maps and other information will be forthcoming.
"Here's the plan, here's the map, here's the time frame, here's what we're doing," said John Spoden, director of community development.
The deck is expected to take about eight months to complete.
The Lake Street project also will affect motorists. A quarter-mile stretch of the road will be completely rebuilt and curbs, gutters and storm sewers installed. A crumbling bridge also will be replaced.
To be done in phases, the work will restrict access to the park, first only from the west and then from the east.
At some point in late June, a section of the road will be completely shut down for installation of the new bridge.
"They'll always be able to get to the ball fields," said Public Works Director John Heinz.
Work is expected to be complete before school starts in the fall.