This year, Joliet will finalize details of its plan to transform Chicago Street, the main street downtown.
The Herald News reports plans for Chicago Street redesign that will include a new downtown plaza, have been in the works for five years. Construction is expected to be less than two years away.
Presented in 2018, after a year of study, the Chicago Street corridor plan called for a new design of the street away from its current layout for a semi-pedestrian mall with limited street parking. The new plan called for a straighter street with more parking spaces in front of businesses, sidewalks with room for planters and cafe seating and even a possible bicycle path and a stretch of the street running between Jefferson and Webster streets.
City engineer Lisa Dorothy says 2024 is likely to be the first year for heavy construction.