A draft of Oak Park’s Vision Zero Action Plan is being presented to the Transportation Commission for consideration and review during its Nov. 11 meeting. The Vision Zero project team has spent a year engaging with residents and stakeholders, analyzing data and reviewing Village policies in order to create this draft plan. The Village is making a commitment to consistently having zero deaths or serious injuries caused by traffic crashes on its streets by 2035. The Vision Zero Action Plan outlines a set of 10 strategies with associated action items that set up the Village to achieve this goal. The final plan is anticipated to be brought to the Village Board in early 2025 for approval. The project team is grateful for all of the residents and stakeholders who have provided input and helped shape the plan.

Village Development Services staff recently joined Wonder Works Children’s Museum’s Executive Director and Board President to celebrate the completion of the museum’s extensive façade improvement. Through the Village’s Commercial Façade Improvement Program (C-FIP), this North Avenue Business Corridor institution received a $10,000 grant to assist with its significant investment towards re-tuckpointing the building’s façade. This was the sixth C-FIP grant check that has been delivered to Oak Park businesses that have improved their facades in 2024. There are several more projects on target to be completed before the end of the year. Since its inception in 2018, the Village’s C-FIP project has helped fund 33 improvement projects throughout the community.

Through the first nine months of the year the Village’s hotel/motel tax revenue is up about 16% compared to the same period in 2023. The revenue comes from a 4% local tax paid by guests who stay in Oak Park’s local hotel, bed and breakfast and short-term rental establishments. September was a particularly strong month for short-term, Airbnb-style rentals. The September tax collection receipts from the one hotel in Oak Park also marked the highest total since 2017.

Early voting for the 2024 Presidential Election continues all weekend at Village Hall. Voters can cast a ballot from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. Village Hall is not a polling place on Election Day, Nov. 5 but will be open for regular business. Click here to search for Election Day polling sites. More information about early voting is at www.oak-park.us/2024earlyvoting.

The Village is collaborating with numerous community partners to co-host Oak Park's 2024 Día de Muertos Event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 2 in Scoville Park. The free community event will feature entertainment, food, activities for kids and more. More information is at www.oak-park.us/diademuertos24. Media Production Manager Joe Kreml also produced a video featuring Oak Park resident Alma Martinez discussing how ofrendas are central to the Día de Muertos cultural celebration. Click here to view the video, which is being shared across the Village’s communications channels.

The Fire Department and the Public Works Department’s Fleet Services Division welcomed a demonstration model of an all-electric Pierce Volterra fire truck this week at Station One. The Village is exploring the potential benefits and challenges associated with this technology as it looks at integrating heavy-duty EVs into municipal operations in the future. The Village’s vehicle fleet currently includes 19 smaller electric vehicle models.

This week the Public Health Department welcomed Jember Feuilladieu, a CDC Associate, to its Health Education Division. Jember was matched with Oak Park through the CDC’s Public Health Associates Program for Recent Graduates and will work with the Public Health Department for two years, assisting with and eventually designing injury prevention and other public health programming. Jember recently graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Psychology and Global Health Studies. Their public heath interests include health policy and access to care and most recently they worked for Food Forward, a food equity non-profit. Elsewhere, the Public Works Department welcomed Edgar Sanchez as the newest member of the Water & Sewer Division this week.

Representatives from the Village’s Development Services Department recently joined Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce members and Kiddie Academy owner Katie Moore for a new business ribbon cutting event. Located at 1117 Garfield St., Kiddie Academy’s new 13,000 square foot building is designed to serve up to 174 children. Although it just recently opened, the facility already serves 70 children, and that number is growing weekly. More information about Kiddie Academy is available on its website – click here to view.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m., this Sun., Nov. 3, and clocks should be set back one hour. The Oak Park Fire Department urges residents to use the time change as a reminder to test and replace the batteries on detectors that use alkaline batteries. Better yet, consider changing your alarms to one of the newer devices, which have both smoke and CO detectors in one device. These also contain a sealed 10-year battery, which costs a bit more upfront but actually saves money over the life of the alarm by eliminating battery replacement. State law now requires that any new smoke alarm being installed within a single or multi-family home feature a 10-year sealed battery.

Madison Street improvements – The contractor finished installing brick pavers on the north half of the intersection of Madison Street and Wesley Avenue. Traffic was shifted this week to the north half of Madison as the south leg of the Madison/Wesley intersection was closed to pour the remaining portion of the raised intersection. Next steps include the installation of brick pavers on the south side of the intersection. Meanwhile, the electrical contractor finished installing new light poles along Madison and started installing new traffic signal heads at Oak Park Avenue and East Avenue. Site preparation for the final asphalt surface will begin sometime next week.

Euclid Avenue resurfacing near Pete’s site – ComEd and Pete’s Fresh Market will begin construction to restore the 300 and 400 blocks of S. Euclid Ave. starting Thurs., Nov. 7. Part of the 500 block of Washington Boulevard is included in this work. Construction hours are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Work is expected to take approximately two weeks and will consist of milling and resurfacing the asphalt pavement. Weather permitted, construction is expected to be completed before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Pavement preservation project – The micro surface treatment on Harrison Street is complete and the roadway is reopened. Micro surfacing treatment is expected to occur on various streets throughout the Village in early November. All of the roads receiving micro surface will experience road closures, and no parking signs will be posted 24 hours in advance. Road closures and parking restrictions are effective only during the working hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Crack filling work is in progress at various locations and expected to be complete by the end of this week. Rejuvenation treatment of roads is expected to begin on Thurs., Nov. 7. The 2024 capital improvement map displays locations scheduled for pavement preservation work this year.

Street resurfacing project – All streets scheduled for resurfacing as part of the Village’s annual resurfacing project have been paved and striping work is complete. Parkway restoration is also complete and pavement symbols for bike lanes will begin the week of Nov. 11. Click here to view a map of 2024 capital improvement projects, which shows locations scheduled for street resurfacing this year.

Water & Sewer improvements – The contractor worked on the remaining structure adjustments and placed the first layer of asphalt along South Boulevard. The final layer of asphalt could be applied by the end of the week, weather pending. As the project winds down, the contractor is removing the detour signage around the site.

Lot 10 construction – The contractor is installing street signs and striping the inside of Lot 10 along North Boulevard between Marion Street and Forest Avenue. The remaining electrical work in the parking lot is expected to begin sometime in November.