New: 2025 Survey Results! CMAP has released a report on the 2025 Community Survey: Finding and Screening Solutions for the Berwyn-Riverside Railroad Grade Crossing Study. 577 respondents completed the survey, mostly residents of the Berwyn and Riverside communities. A supermajority of 60 percent or more of respondents who were residents of Riverside thought that reducing motorist and truck delay at Harlem Avenue, for example with a bridge or underpass, is either extremely important or very important. Supermajorities of respondents who were Berwyn residents thought that reducing motorist and trucks delay on Harlem Avenue, Grove/Oak Park Avenue, and Ridgeland Avenue is extremely important or very important.

CMAP also asked respondents about the importance of pedestrian bridges or underpasses. A supermajority of Riverside residents thought that pedestrian bridgees or underpasses across the BNSF Railway at Harlem Avenue and across Harlem Avenue itself were extremely important or very important. Supermajorities of Berwyn residents thought that pedestrian bridges or underpasses were extremely important or very important across Harlem, Grove/Oak Park and Ridgeland Avenues, with supermajorities of parents of Berwyn students additionally prioritizing crossings at Home Avenue and East Avenues for pedestrian grade separations.

Respondents were asked about the factors to be considered in prioritizing improvements. Health and safety issues (emergency vehicles, access to MacNeal Hospital, and rail safety) were ranked most important. Travel impacts (access to transit, access to schools, travel-time reliability, and delay) were ranked next in importance, followed by potential negative impacts of an improvement.

Respondents also provided many ideas for improvements. Complete survey results, including a full list of respondent ideas and analyses for responding residents, business owners, parents of schoolchildren, and people working in Berwyn and Riverside are included in the new document Finding and screening solutions: community survey results.

Project overview

CMAP is working together with the City of Berwyn, the Village of Riverside, the BNSF Railway, and other stakeholders to study crossings of the BNSF Railway from Ridgeland Avenue in Berwyn to Delaplaine Road in Riverside, including Harlem Avenue (Illinois Route 43).

In Part I of the study, the study team used technical information and public engagement to determine that there is a need for an improvement. The resulting documents are shown in the "Documents" section of this page. Part I of the study concluded in 2023.

In Part II of the study, the study team will identify a range of alternative solutions to address that need. We will screen those potential solutions to identify alternatives to carry forward in a potential future engineering process. Examples of screening criteria might be whether the alternative meaningfully addresses the identified purpose and need, constructability, social and environmental impacts, impacts on traffic and transit, and impacts on private property. For the alternatives we might carry forward to engineering, we also expect to develop early, planning-level cost estimates, which can help Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways (CCDOTH), Berwyn, and Riverside decide whether a project should move forward. Part II of the project will conclude in November, 2026.

CMAP will be using the Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) process, including federal coordination. CCDOTH and CMAP are providing the funding necessary to support this planning initiative.

The study will consider such issues as travel-time reliability, emergency vehicle access, access to MacNeal Hospital, access to transit stations, access to nearby businesses, economic development, historic preservation, and pedestrian and motorist safety.

Descripción de proyecto
La Agencia Metropolitana de Planificación de Chicago (CMAP, por sus siglas en inglés) está trabajando con la Ciudad de Berwin, el Poblado de Riverside, el Ferrocarril BNSF y otras partes interesadas para estudiar los cruces del Ferrocarril BNSF desde la Avenida Ridgeland en Berwyn a la Carretera Delaplaine en Riverside, incluyendo la Avenido Harlem Avenue (Ruta 43 de Illinois). El estudio identificará un propósito y una necesidad, una gama de alternativas y alternativas para llevar a cabo futuros estudios.

En la Part I del estudio, el equipo utilizó información técnica y las aportaciones ciudadanas para determinar la necesidad de mejora. Los documentos resultantes se muestran en la sección "Documentos" de esta página. La Fase I del estudio concluyó en 2023.

En la Parte II de este estudio de planificación, el equipo identificará soluciones alternativas para abordar esta necesidad. Examinaremos estas posibles soluciones para seleccionar alternativas que puedan estudiarse con mayor detalle durante la ingeniería. Los criterios de selección podrían incluir si la solución aborda significativamente la necesidad identificada, la viabilidad de la construcción, los impactos sociales y ambientales, el impacto en el tráfico y el transporte público, los accidentes de tráfico y el impacto en viviendas y negocios. Para las soluciones que podamos presentar a la fase de ingeniería, también esperamos elaborar estimaciones de costos aproximadas, que puedan ayudar al Departamento de Transporte y Carreteras del Condado de Cook (CCDOTH), Berwyn y Riverside a decidir si un proyecto debe seguir adelante. El equipo finalizará la Fase II del estudio para noviembre de 2026.

El CMAP utilizará el proceso de Planificación y Vínculos Ambientales (PEL), incluyendo la coordinación federal. El CCDOTH y el CMAP están aportando los fondos necesarios para apoyar esta iniciativa de planificación.

El estudio considerará temas como la confiabilidad del tiempo de viaje, el acceso de vehículos de emergencia, el acceso al Hospital MacNeal, el acceso a las estaciones de transporte público, el acceso a negocios cercanos, desarrollo economicola, preservación histórica y la seguridad de peatones y automovilistas.

Encuentra los resultados de la encuesta de las partes interesadas en la sección Documetos de esta página.