Parking spots were off limits on the west side of Sterling Avenue in downtown Flossmoor on Thursday, July 31, as construction crews excavated new curb contours at Central Park Drive and the intersection of Sterling and Flossmoor Road.
The village also recently unveiled an interactive online map that enables residents to get a closer look at the streetscape design, including where the curb changes are, where new trees will be planted and where dividers will be place to help guide vehicular traffic.
In previous days, the sidewalk along the west side of Sterling was removed leaving gravel surfaces. But stores remain accessible as village officials promised before the project began.
Temporary Sterling Avenue parking space closures were expected, and the village has compensated by opening parts of the commuter lots for shoppers. Free three-hour parking spots are available in designated areas of both the north and south commuter lots.
There have been some problems to iron out with the arrangement. A resident, Stephanie Poole Byrd, addressed the board at the July 21 meeting to advise that commuters were not able, in some cases, to find parking spaces and had received tickets for parking in the spots reserved for shoppers.
On July 22, the village posted on its website a clarification on the parking policy during construction:
- Free spots in the north commuter lot may be in different spaces on both sides of the aisle to better accommodate quarterly permit commuters.
- Daily commuter permits are only allowed in the south commuter lot for the duration of construction.
- Parking in both commuter lots continues to be free on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as after 6 p.m. on weekdays. The Central Drive parking lot also has free parking every day.
Equipment staging that was taking up parking in the north lot has been moved, too, returning more spaces to use by commuters.
Permanent curbs will replace the bollards that have been in place for several years to help slow traffic, and a new curb bump-out will be added at the northwest corner of Flossmoor Road and Sterling Avenue. Crews were excavating that area Thursday afternoon.
The new curb contour at Sterling and Flossmoor Road will cost a couple of parking spaces, but it will help slow down traffic, especially drivers who are tempted to zip around the corner heading west on Flossmoor Road.
The reshaped curb there also will shorten the distance pedestrians have to walk to cross Sterling. The intersection has a lot of pedestrian traffic, especially around the times Metra trains arrive and depart from the nearby Flossmoor station.
The $2 million project will be paid for by $183,000 in Invest in Cook Grant funding, a nearly $1.2 million state Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant and a little more than $600,000 from the village.
