UPDATE: The Park Forest Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan was unanimously adopted by the Village Board on December 8, 2014. The Policy Addendum was completed in July, 2015.
From its history as one of the first American planned communities to its preservation of natural resources like the Central Park Wetlands, the Village of Park Forest has demonstrated its commitment to growing sustainably. In partnership with CMAP, the Village furthered those priorities with the 2012 creation of its Sustainability Plan called Growing Green, which covered a variety of topics from development patterns to energy and water use. Growing Green recommended strategies related to nonmotorized transportation and set the goal of becoming a more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly community. To implement these actions, Park Forest undertook a bike and pedestrian planning project.
With support from CMAP's Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, this Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan was built around a community-based process that reflected the interests and diverse needs of the community. Key themes of this plan include connecting cyclists to local amenities and destinations; linking local facilities to the regional greenway system; and creating implementable actions that can be incorporated easily into the Village's capital planning. Additional attention is placed on safety and accessibility.
This planning process, designed to be completed in approximately 12 months, consisted of three main phases. The first phase assessed the existing conditions of nonmotorized transportation in the Village, including stakeholder and public engagement. During the second phase, initial recommendations were created and vetted with the project's steering committee and Village staff. The third phase included plan creation, community feedback, and plan adoption.
