Naperville taking steps to ease congestion

One of the few but frequent gripes Naperville residents have about their city is the traffic.

With that in mind, the city is rolling out several transportation initiatives this summer aimed at easing congestion, including a new Park-n-Ride to get commuters to the train station and a parking guidance system for the downtown decks.

Beginning June 7, commuters will be able to access the downtown Metra station via a Park-n-Ride at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 1500 Brookdale Road. Motorists can park for free in one of 75 designated spaces, then hop on a Pace bus to get to the train station.

Using Route 682, five buses will take commuters to the downtown station in the morning and three in the evening will bring them back to the church. Karyn Robles, transportation team leader for Naperville, said there is also a night service run that goes to specific stops by request.

"We felt it was a need that wasn't currently being met," Robles said of the new Park-n-Ride. "There is a lot of demand for the Naperville station because we have significantly fewer parking spaces because not everyone is served by an existing neighborhood (bus) route."

Bus fare is $1.75 each way but Naperville is offering free rides on Route 682 on weekdays until July 2. Riders on other Pace/Metra feeder routes, including the city's other three Park-n-Rides, will be able to ride free on Tuesdays from June 8 to 29.

Robles also has good news for commuters who take the train from the Route 59 Metra station. For the first time in about a decade, there is no waiting list for a parking permit in Naperville's commuter lot. In the past, some people were waiting more than two years to get a permit.

Robles said the economic downturn has led to fewer people commuting. Because the wait time for a permit wasn't as daunting as it is at the downtown station, people who didn't need their permits were more willing to give them up.

The average wait for a permit at the downtown station is about 61/2 years at the Kroehler lot and 10 years at the Burlington and Parkview lots, Robles said.

While Naperville no longer has a waiting list at the Route 59 station lot, Aurora's lot at the same station still does. There are about 2,500 people on that list who will be waiting five to seven years on average to get a spot. Those commuters can apply for a permit on Naperville's side but there is an extra $25 charge for nonresidents on top of the quarterly fees.

Anyone wishing to get a permit for the Route 59 lot can visit www.naperville.il.us/commuterparking.aspx or go to the city's finance department at 400 S. Eagle St.

Other motorists also will reap the benefits of new parking initiatives this summer. The city is installing electronic parking guidance systems in the Central Parking Facility on Chicago Avenue and the Van Buren Parking Deck.

Using vehicle sensors, the systems will monitor the number of cars entering and exiting the parking decks to let drivers know if there are spaces available. That information not only will be posted on electronic signs outside the decks but also on the city's website.

"We'll try to hopefully give people better guidance as to the availability of spaces and it should cut down on circulation and vehicle emissions because people should be able to make better choices about where parking is available," Project Engineer Andy Hynes said.

The system also will give the city valuable data about when the garages are being used that will help with planning, Hynes said.

The parking guidance system project will cost about $300,000. Half of the money will come from federal stimulus funds.

Hynes expects the systems to be operational at both decks in late June or early July.