The Homewood Board of Trustees has been on board with the plan to convert 183rd Street east of Dixie Highway from four traffic lanes to two with one center turn lane and two bicycle lanes. The board endorsed that plan in 2007 when it adopted the Bike Plan and again, twice, in 2022, when the village applied for state funding to implement the traffic calming plan.
The study and planning for the 4 to 3 lane reconfiguration came before the village spent a year updating its transit-oriented development (TOD) downtown master plan, but it turns out the 183rd Street road diet actually dovetails nicely with the vision for downtown.
“The TOD Plan is designed to create safer spaces for walking and bicycling and make connections to transit easier,” Mayor Rich Hofeld said in his introduction to the plan.
The TOD plan focuses not only on the downtown area but on how people get to downtown. During focus groups I attended and in the final plan document, the question of access was one of the key questions. See the graphic on this page for some representative comments.
It makes sense to consider access. If downtown is made safer for cyclists and pedestrians but there’s no safe way to get to downtown by walking or cycling, the infrastructure defeats the purpose.
Making 183rd Street safer and more accessible will encourage the kind of mobility that enhances the quality of life in the village and promotes the vision of downtown mobilty. And research shows road diets do not lead to serious traffic congestion. Visit safer183.com for more information.
H-F grad sings way to $25K
Jadon Smith said he knew it would be risky to sing an original song during the Wind Creek Sing Your Way to $100K contest. He did it anyway, and it paid off — to the tune of $25,000 for his second-place finish in the final round of the competition, held Aug. 23 at Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino in East Hazel Crest.
“Originality breeds success. It breeds confidence. It breeds authenticity,” he said after being presented with a big display check from Wind Creek officials. “You always take a risk on something that people don’t know, but to get second place with an original, I feel extremely blessed.”
Smith said the money would go right into studio time he needs to record his next five original songs. He’s working on his debut EP that will come out under his professional name, Jadon Giuseppe, possibly by the end of the year. The 2022 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School said his experience in the school’s music and theater programs helped provide a foundation for his career.
“My experience at H-F inspired me to do what I’m doing today,” he said. “Epecially in my senior year when I did theater, that really pushed me out my comfort zone and it pushed what I embody now, which is the authenticity … 100% just being you and being genuine.”
He credited his teachers, especially music teacher Steve Sifner, for providing the support he needed to grow as an artist.
Casino General Manager Roger Kuehn said the contest was the third the company had sponsored but the first at its newest location.
“We thought Chicago was a mecca for talent,” he said, noting the performances in the final round confirmed that belief. “I still have chill bumps just from hearing some of those voices tonight.”
Kuehn said there will probably be more entertainment events like the contest in the future, although specific plans have not been set.
The long-term plan for the Chicago Southland location is to develop an entertainment venue, but he did not have an estimate for when that project might begin.
