‘Attempting Perfection:’ Plainfield Gets First Look Rt. 59 Plan

It’s been more than six months in the making, but on Monday night, village trustees and Plainfield residents got their first look at the final concepts created as part of the “Vision for Division” study.

The project took a look at the stretch of Route 59/Division Street from Main Street to Union Street, asking residents whether the once primarily residential area should remain a low-impact business transition district (BTD) or become a commercial corridor.

Last summer, trustees approved a contract with Chicago-based planning firm Civic ArtWorks to conduct crowd-sourcing and come up with a plan for the area, which sees traffic of around 40,000 vehicles per day.

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The village paid the firm $5,900 to help shape Route 59’s future, starting with creating a website, www.visiondivision.civicartworks.com, to generate ideas and get feedback from residents. The result is a blueprint for future development along the corridor.

Civic ArtWorks Director of Planning and Design Zach Border said four ideas, all suggested by residents, came out on top:

• Build on Plainfield’s pleasant hometown atmosphere
• Retain the business transition atmosphere
• Enhance Division Street and protect existing residential areas
• Let’s not kick the can down the road

From there, Civic ArtWorks built upon the ideas to come up with concepts for the intersections at Main Street, Lockport Street and Joliet Road. 

A total of 342 people participated on the site, and readers cast 1,227 votes for their favorite concepts, in addition to the 39 ideas submitted by residents to get the ball rolling, Borders said.

“The response was fantastic,” Borders said. “It exceeded our expectations.”

Borders said Civic ArtWorks went into the project with no preconceived notions, taking its inspiration from the feedback posted by website visitors.

“It was all your ideas,” he told residents who turned out for Monday’s village Committee of the Whole meeting.

What residents had to say

Main Street

Despite the consensus that a BTD still makes sense for the corridor, Planner Michael Garrigan said the process revealed a “general dissatisfaction with the existing development pattern at the corner of Main Street and Route 59 and the wish for a more urban feel.”

The final “Vision” proposal calls for buildings at the southwest corner of Route 59 and Main Street to be brought closer to the roadway, “Thus holding the corner and providing a real sense of place for those entering downtown,” Garrigan said. 

Behind-the-scenes parking

While keeping the area BTD, Borders said, residents who participated on the website favored the creation of a new alley or motor court behind future businesses along Division Street rather than preserving individual curb-cuts at each location. 

‘Katrina Cottages’

Borders said one concept that received support on the website was the “Katrina Collage,” or small cottages that would line the proposed expanded municipal/library parking lot on Route 59. The cottages could house small business incubator offices along Route 59.

Trustee Bill Lamb was unsure about the Karina Cottage proposal.

“I understand the concept, but they would be too small to fit in” to the existing streetscape, he said. 

Route 66 history

Most website participants favored keeping the southeast corner of Route 59 and Joliet Road open space.

The site, the former home of the Go-Tane station, generated some debate last summer after a developer proposed building a new fuel station on the property.

Read: Gas Station Plan Gets Pushback from Residents

Borders urged village officials to consider some type of identifying landmark for the site, which is one of just two locations where the Lincoln Highway and Route 66 intersect.

“Do it with some flair,” Borders said of a proposed Route 66 attraction. “ … How can we make this something that screams ‘Plainfield’?”

A commercial gateway

The plan presented by Borders also included a proposed new commercial gateway to downtown Plainfield, with new development at Lockport Street and Route 59.

“Vision for Division” participants supported “providing some type of urban edge along Division Street (Katrina Cottages),” Garrigan said in a memo to the board. “In addition, the vision calls for a building that holds the corner at the southwest corner of Division Street and Lockport.”

‘Attempting perfection’

While trustees applauded the finished “Vision for Division” concept, they were also realistic about making it a reality.

“A lot of times we attempt perfection and have to accept reality,” trustee Jim Racich said. “Unfortunately, I have to be a realist. Money is very limited. Commercial development is very limited …

“It’s something to be desired and it’s something for us to try to achieve,” Racich said.

“If we could get to where you’re proposing, it would be magnificent,” Lamb said. “What you’ve created is a vision of Plainfield that’s fantastic. What we need to do is find a way to get there.”

Borders said the “Vision for Division” illustrations presented at Monday’s meeting will eventually be posted to the project website.

Three-dimensional posters by architect and illustrator David Carrico are slated to be completed in the next week or so, and will be included in an upcoming Village of Plainfield newsletter, Borders added. (Click here to sign up for the village's weekly e-news update)

He said Civic ArtWorks intends to leave the “Vision for Division” website up permanently — and possibly keep it open for comments.

“We don’t want to just leave,” he said. “Our hope is that we are able to leave the website open.”

Related:

• Officials Undecided on Vision For Route 59 Corridor
• Century-Old Plainfield Home to Face the Wrecking Ball
• Plainfield Trustees: Demolition Can Wait for Route 59 House

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