Homewood Public Works Department workers have been removing vegetation and removing soil from the east side median between the commuter parking lot and Harwood Avenue in recent days.
The work is in preparation for landscaping and curb work intended to make the lot more appealing and accessible, according to Homewood Village Manager Napoleon Haney.
“The goal is to make the parking area more pedestrian friendly as people walk from the lots to the east side of Harwood Avenue to enjoy events, shopping and restaurants,” he said in a memo to the village board before its Aug. 8 meeting.
At that meeting, the board approved adding 650 feet of curbing to the village-wide sidewalk and curb replacement program for 2023. The original contract with Strada Construction Company of Addison was approved at the April 25 meeting. The curb installation will cost an additional $26,000, paid for from the village’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Haney said the current plan is to add the new curbing on the inside edge of the lot, and the median will likely be filled with rock. The curbing will extend from near the entrance to the lot just north of Ridge Road to the exit near Elm Road.
The village acquired the commuter lot on Harwood on Jan. 1, 2022, when the Chicago South Suburban Mass Transit District was dissolved by the state.
