Brookfield is preparing to make improvements to Prairie Avenue next year, including streetscape work on the 3700 block and new roadside lighting up to Washington Avenue.
Trustees on March 23 reached a consensus after 45 minutes of discussion to implement new pedestrian-focused lighting from Broadway Avenue to Grant Avenue before transitioning to combined pedestrian- and roadway-focused lighting up through the intersection with Washington Avenue.
Other planned work for 2027 includes replacing the sidewalks and curbs and installing brick pavers on the 3700 block of Prairie Avenue up through the mid-block alley north of Fill My Jar, the same stretch where new pedestrian lighting was installed last year as streetscape work was done to the 3700 block of Grand Boulevard.
Curb bump-outs are also set to be installed to constrict the roadway of Prairie Avenue at the intersection with Washington Avenue in order to “protect the kids up there and to shorten the crosswalk,” said Dan O’Malley, a project manager at Hancock Engineering, Brookfield’s contracted firm.
“[The bump-outs] would shrink the crosswalk and make it safer, more visible,” he told trustees.
Altogether, Brookfield is set to pay about $976,000 in total for the streetscape work, accounting for the village’s 20% share, according to estimates from an October discussion; 80% of the total costs will be covered by federal funding through the Surface Transportation Program offered by the Central Council of Mayors.
The new lighting work cost the village an additional $80,000 for the pedestrian lighting up to Grant Avenue and another $150,000 or so for the lighting from Grant to Washington Avenue.
At the meeting, trustees discussed what kind of lighting poles should be placed where. The discussion initially concerned only the 3700 block of Prairie Avenue, though Village Manager Tim Wiberg urged trustees to consider expanding past the block.
“That’s defining where the downtown is today. In 30 years, do we think downtown is going to expand north?” he said. “If we think there’s an opportunity or a chance that the natural expansion of downtown will spread that way, now is the time.”
Some members of the board suggested alternating pedestrian-only lighting with the combined poles all the way to Washington Avenue, while others suggested the increase in cost wouldn’t be worth the end result.
“Who are we providing that amenity for? These are residential blocks right now, so I understand it’s a thoroughfare, but we’re putting in decorative light for the people who are driving by?” Trustee Kyle Whitehead said. “It seems like a significant cost to take on with no clear benefit.”
During the discussion, O’Malley said any combination of lighting could be feasible even up to 31st Street, though he emphasized the more permanent impacts of the decision.
“We can always come back in a couple years and apply for an ITEP [Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program] grant for doing the rest of the streetscape,” he said. “The lighting is a little bit more of a long-term commitment. Obviously, you don’t want to be replacing your lights in five years.”
He said Hancock would take the board’s direction in preparing plans for pre-final submittal to the Illinois Department of Transportation with the option for officials to review their choice before the final plans are submitted.
