Dempster Street Construction Has End in Sight

Business owners along nearly a mile stretch of Dempster Street have a firm message: They want their curbside parking back. But a village official said that was unlikely as workers neared completion of the roadway's lengthy reconstruction.

It has been almost a year and a half since excavators and backhoes stationed themselves outside the storefront businesses, and "pretty much every day, everyone's complaining about it," said Dan Orman of Orman Chiropractic at 5833 Dempster St.

Orman said access to parking along Dempster Street is especially vital to his patients, many of whom rely on walkers and other support devices to get around. But he and other business owners will face a new parking reality with changes to the village's main artery. 

Reconfiguring parking

The Dempster Street reconstruction project, whose completion is expected in late July, will eliminate all parking along that stretch of Morton Grove's most popular route, Village Administrator Joe Wade said Tuesday afternoon. 

Wade said the extensive project required collateral damage: the removal of 123 on-street parking spaces between Lehigh and Central avenues. To compensate for this, a 1998 state traffic analysis recommended the construction of 166 replacement spaces spread throughout various lots along the one-mile segment.

In response to that advisory, the village has constructed nearby parking lots with 181 slots for vehicles, Wade said.

John Said, the village's community and economic development director, contends the concerns of the businesses have been answered with "ample parking" provided within one block of Dempster. He notes that parking is a fickle topic that will always draw complaints.

"No matter where you go, people will express concerns about parking," the economic development director said. "No matter where you go, you will see that."

At the Dental Implant Center, its office manager, Yadira Ayala, estimates "a couple of patients at least every other day" grumble about the limited parking.

"They're not mad, but they're like, 'Hey, when is this going to be done?' " she said.

'Needed to be done'

Farmers Insurance agent Paul Vanderhulst is ready for the construction work to wind down outside his office at 6227 Dempster St. He said the seemingly ceaseless project "may be driving away some business," but it is "work that needed to be done."

Vanderhulst also notes that construction workers have been "doing a very good job" redrafting the heavily traveled road. 

"The facts are the facts," he said. "It's obvious they're making a mess."

It was more than a decade ago that the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) completed a Strategic Regional Arterial Study for the one-mile run of Dempster Street. The strategic thoroughfares encompass more than 1,500 miles of Illinois roadways intended to relieve urban congestion and ease access to Chicago's suburbs, according to IDOT's website.

That two-pronged mission for traffic flow was backed by extensive village and IDOT data that affirmed the need for accident prevention and for improvements to handle the volume of vehicles. An IDOT analysis from 1999 to 2001 concluded that the "critical frequency" of accidents was above departmental standards. The village did a similar study from 2004 to 2005 and found that 240 accidents occurred during that one-year span.

The average daily traffic volume along the affected stretch of Dempster Street was 38,000 vehicles before construction was greenlighted, according to a Dempster Street Redevelopment Project Fact Sheet obtained by Morton Grove Patch. The reconstruction effort will increase the capacity to 40,000 vehicles a day.

The end is in sight

More than 10 years had elapsed between the original Strategic Regional Arterial Study's release and the official start of construction in February 2010. It marked continuous efforts by the village to procure outside funding for the project.

By the end of 2008, Morton Grove had secured more than $7.7 million in state and federal commitments for the reconstruction work, according to a village memo that year. One of the main obstacles was financing for three parking lots to handle the elimination of spaces during the construction, which the memo noted was important to avoid further delaying the road project. 

Said and Wade confirmed Tuesday that state and federal funds covered the entire cost of the work.

Now that the major hurdles, including a 2010 strike by construction workers, have been cleared, the final stages of the project are within striking distance. Water mains have been replaced and utility relocations have been done. Among the finishing touches are new sidewalks, new light fixtures and other aesthetics.

Wade said as summer approaches, "a lot of what takes time" is the task of repaving the segment.

Still, Said noted contractors remained on track to complete the reconstruction work by the end of July.  "The weather's cooperating, and that's allowing it to proceed," he said.