Elburn looking make it easier to walk, bike around village after ‘Elburn Connects’ study completed

With the completion of the Elburn Connects study, village officials are focusing on ways to connect the downtown area to Elburn Station, as well as expand transportation connections throughout the village.

The question that initially drove the Elburn Connects study was about connectivity – how do officials keep the downtown area and Elburn Station, where the Metra train station is located, more walkable, bikeable and driveable, Village President Jeff Walter said.

The discussions to connect the Elburn Station subdivision and train station to the downtown area began years ago when the village was planning to annex the Elburn Station development into the village, Walter said.

He said the plan for Elburn Station almost looked like another “miniature downtown,” with commercial buildings with condos upstairs. That plan was scrapped, he said.

“We didn’t want to lose the charm of the downtown area, but we wanted to keep it connected to the new transit-oriented development [Elburn Station],” Walter said.

The initial solution that the village and Elburn Station developer Shodeen came up with was to build a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks that would allow people to walk between Elburn Station and the downtown area.

However, when officials looked at the amount of money it would take to build that bridge now – $2 million or more – they realized it wasn’t feasible, Walter said.

Another consideration for the village will be the viability of transportation options between the train station and downtown area since the number of commuters has fallen since the pandemic.

“Post-COVID [transit-oriented development] – is it even a real thing anymore?” he asked.

Walter said the train station parking lot went from more than 300 cars a day down to 30 or 40 during the worst of the pandemic.

“The number of commuters has picked up a little since COVID and peaked at 50,” he said. “Even now, there’s not a lot of people commuting. What does that mean for the future of transit-oriented development?”

In addition to Elburn Station, other projects the village will tackle to improve connectivity will include completing the sidewalk network on both sides of Main Street, especially south of the railroad tracks, and installing new streetlights along Main Street to give it the feeling of one cohesive downtown area, Walter said.

Improving the safety for pedestrians throughout the commercial district on Route 47 also will be a priority, Walter said. Projects include making pedestrian crosswalks at intersections safer and more well-defined and adding turn lanes for a smoother flow of traffic.

Walter said constructing a pedestrian crossing at the railroad crossing at First Street, where the sidewalk is “kind of shaky” with starts and stops, also is “in the works,” but more likely will be a two- to three-year project.

Optimizing the parking available for commercial areas is needed, but will take a bit longer, Walter said, as it will involve creating shared parking arrangements between the village and individual landowners.

Another option the village will consider is reconfiguring street parking along Main Street.

In addition to improving the connectivity in Elburn, the village’s other two goals are about enhancing the existing downtown area and encouraging new development opportunities.

The Elburn Connects study also identified a good way to enhance the downtown area is for building owners and the village to transform alleyways along Main Street into public spaces, such as the one to the north of the building at the northwest corner of North Street and Main Street, across from the Corner Grind, Walter said.