Recently the Oak Park Village Board has been giving away a certain kind of real estate that they don’t think we citizens will miss — streets.
For example, Maple Street south of South Boulevard for the new apartment building, and Lombard south of South Boulevard for the Public Works building. Developers are swooping in now to seize portions of Euclid near Madison Street, and Monroe Street near Wenonah Avenue.
These land grabs are a bad idea for several reasons.
They cause traffic to increase on surrounding streets and alleys, increasing congestion. By reducing foot and vehicular traffic on Euclid, they make the area less safe, particularly at night. They reduce the ability of firefighters to access buildings in the area in an emergency.
Village board: Please don’t give away any more streets to developers.
Kevin Shalla
Oak Park
