The Public Works Department’s Forestry Division participated in a tree planting event hosted by the Park District of Oak Park today at Mills Park in recognition of Arbor Day. Students from Brooks Middle School were on hand for the event, which included Forestry Division officials discussing the work that goes into maintaining Oak Park’s urban forest. The Village is also highlighting the fact that the Arbor Day Foundation named Oak Park a 2023 Tree City USA recipient for its commitment to managing the community’s urban forest. This is the 40th year the Village has been recognized for this achievement. Additionally, the Village received a Growth Award for the 17th time for continuing to grow its forestry program. Steps taken by the Village in the past year include updating Oak Park’s parkway tree inventory, planting more trees than were removed and maintaining the community’s younger trees. For more information about how the Village cares for trees on public property, visit www.oak-park.us/trees.

Village Forestry officials are alerting residents that periodic cicadas will return to Oak Park this spring. The notoriously noisy insects have been living underground for the past 17 years, and their emergence is a highly coordinated, natural phenomena in our region during which large numbers of cicadas appear around the same time in May and early June. Village Forestry officials say cicadas rarely impact a tree's health unless it is small in size with few branches and a trunk less than 2 inches in diameter. Almost all of the trees that are part of the Village’s spring tree planting program will be large enough in size to withstand the emergence of the cicadas. More information is at www.oak-park.us/cicadas.

Oak Park residents interested in knowing about the quality of the water they drink can find the latest annual report at www.oak-park.us/waterqualityreport. Each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires communities to provide details on the quality of the local drinking water. In addition to analysis results for regulated and unregulated substances in the water, the 2024 report posted this week also includes facts about the community’s drinking water delivery system and source. An archive of past water quality reports is posted at www.oak-park.us/waterquality. For more information about Oak Park’s drinking water or to request a paper copy of the annual water report, call 708.358.5700 or email publicworks@oak-park.us.

The Police Department has temporarily reassigned several members of the Community Policing Unit to the Patrol Division to accommodate staffing needs. At this time, Deputy Chief Dave Jacobson will serve as the point of contact for Oak Park’s eight neighborhood zones, which were created as part of Oak Park’s community policing strategy that relies on citizen involvement and a partnership between Police Department officials and residents. During this transition, virtual neighborhood zone meetings are temporarily on hold. Updated contact information for residents seeking information about safety issues in their neighborhood zone is posted at www.oak-park.us/communitypolicing.

The Police Department welcomed a new Police Officer as Jorge Diaz Jr. was sworn in during a ceremony Monday at Village Hall. Jorge earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from National Louis University.

The annual Good Life Race will bring street closures along the 5K run/walk route in north central Oak Park from about 8 to 11 a.m. this Sunday, April 28. Several streets will be closed and traffic flow on others will be restricted. Drivers should expect they will not be able to cross the race course during the event. Please observe all no parking signs and give yourself extra time to maneuver around the race course. Click here to view the race route.

Anyone planning to ride the CTA Blue Line this weekend is advised that service on the Forest Park branch that includes multiple stops in Oak Park will be temporarily impacted to accommodate construction work at the Racine Blue Line station and Morgan substation. Starting at 10 p.m. tonight (April 26), Blue Line trains will operate in two sections: Between Forest Park and Illinois Medical District, and between O’Hare and UIC-Halsted. Bus shuttles will be available between Illinois Medical District and UIC-Halsted. Normal service is expected to resume at 4 a.m. Monday. More information is on the CTA website.

Plans continue to come together for the What’s Blooming on Harrison Street Festival taking place May 18 in the Oak Park Arts District. Organizers have announced the music lineup for the event. Ovation Academy will kick things off at 11 a.m. followed by Oak Park String Academy at 11:40 a.m., ELFI Studio at 12:20 p.m., Lura Cruz Piano at 1 p.m., The Actors Garden at 1:40 p.m. and School of Rock at 2:30 p.m. Following a short break, High & Lonesome will play 90’s rock from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. followed by Saltwater Tap playing elements of soul, folk and everything in between from 6 to 7 p.m. Red Pop Fury is the last act of the night, taking the stage from 7:15 to 9 p.m. Find more information about What’s Blooming on Harrison on the Arts District website – click here to view.

Alley improvement project – Utility work for the first alley improvement contract of the season will be fully complete for all alleys except one by the end of this week. The remaining alley is adjacent to a school, so utility work is being delayed until June. Earth excavation and pavement removal is complete for the first two alleys undergoing construction as part of the project and ongoing for the third and fourth alleys. Excavation Work for the fifth alley between the 800 blocks of Grove Ave. and Oak Park Ave. will begin next week. A second alley improvement project that is part of a separate contract is also in the works. For this project, concrete aprons were poured this week in the alley between the 200 blocks of Taylor Ave. and Humphrey Ave. Earth excavation is also underway in the alley between the 400 blocks of Grove Ave. and Kenilworth Ave.

Euclid Avenue water improvements – This week the contractor installed water main on Euclid Avenue from Lake Street to North Boulevard. Next steps include pressure testing and chlorinating the new main. All work is complete on South Boulevard and the traffic control at this location is being removed. The contractor will begin connecting water services next week.

Forest & Ontario update – ComEd’s contractor is actively working within the Forest Avenue and Ontario Street intersection to install a new line along Ontario. Sawcutting for the brick crosswalks will began this week and will be followed by surface removals. The detour will be reinstalled around the site with no through traffic when work is in progress.

Austin sewer improvements – Removal of sidewalks, curbs and drainage structures continued this week along Austin Boulevard. Construction began at Roosevelt Road and will continue to progress north toward Garfield Street. No parking signs will be posted on Austin from Fillmore Street north to Garfield as crews approach that area.

Marion resurfacing – The contractor completed the replacement of curbs and sidewalks on Marion Street and Pleasant Place. Milling and asphalt replacement will begin next week on Marion from Randolph Street to Pleasant Place as well as along Pleasant Place. Striping will begin after asphalt placement. No parking is allowed on both Marion and Pleasant Place during work hours.

Bike boulevard update – The bike boulevard on Erie Street from Kenilworth Avenue to Scoville Avenue and on Scoville from Erie to South Boulevard will have flexible delineators installed in mid-May. New foundations for the radar signs are on temporary hold. Touch-up striping was completed last weekend.

Madison Street improvements –The contractor started installing water services this week along Madison Street between Oak Park Avenue and East Avenue. Crews also began patching the roadway with concrete. This work will continue into next week.

Sidewalks repair project – The sidewalk project is set to get underway after being delayed due to weather. The contractor will start with sawcutting at the proposed locations in the south half of the Village, followed by removals.