For years, Lake Forest city officials have talked about putting a facelift on Deerpath Road. Now that the work has begun, some businesses directly affected by the construction are worried about the impact.
On Jan. 13, crews started a two-phased overhaul of Deerpath, the main east-west thoroughfare into the city’s downtown. The initial part of the construction is water main replacement work under Deerpath from Green Bay Road east to Western Avenue. That is set to run through mid-April.
In the second phase, the city is scheduled to install a series of streetscape changes on Deerpath from Oakwood Avenue to Western Avenue. During the streetscape improvements, the city will also be renovating Bank Lane north of Deerpath.
To accommodate the construction, the city has shut down westbound traffic on Deerpath from Green Bay to Western Avenue and removed some parking spaces.
With the disruptions in place, some of the local businesses directly impacted are already seeing fewer customers enter their stores.
“To have all these stores endure this for seven to eight months this year is unreasonable because it is killing business,” said Mark Roberts, the owner of Mark David Designs at 266 E. Deerpath. “The clientele in Lake Forest does not make a big effort. If it is not convenient, they are not going to come here.”
Roberts added he has two meetings with city officials about the situation.
Adam Dlatt, the co-owner of Once Upon a Bagel, which opened last spring, offered a similar sentiment while acknowledging the city has offered updates on the project.
“Had we known about this in the time when we were building out the location, we probably would have had second thoughts about it. There is not much about we can do about it now,” Dlatt said.
Dlatt mentioned his quick-serve restaurant is making some adjustments including a social media campaign, offering curbside pickup and taking orders online.
“We are doing whatever we can to combat the lack of parking and the lack of traffic flow in front of the store at this point,” said Dlatt, adding they still like the location. “For everyone, this is a little bit of a speed bump. We’ll get through it.”
Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joanna Rolek said she has heard from other businesses attempting to deal with the ongoing traffic issues.
“There is nothing easy about what is happening but the city has stood by the necessity of doing it and doing it as expeditiously as possible which is what their goal is,” she said.
City Manager Jason Wicha addressed the construction during his presentation at the Jan. 17 session hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.
“We acknowledge the disruption that is going to come from this,” Wicha said. “We ask for your patience.”
City officials said an outreach campaign began last September toward businesses in the impacted areas and conducted over 20 individual meetings with business owners.
“We are doing all that we can to minimize impacts and working hand-in-hand with the businesses to do all that we can to make the construction the least impactful as possible,” city spokesperson Dana Olson said.
Since the project started the city has already changed to the timing of traffic lights in the area, allowing a right turn on red at Green Bay and Deerpath, offering limited additional free parking at nearby lots and putting up signs stating businesses are open. Also, the city has added two designated 5-15 minute parking spots on Bank Lane for restaurants to expedite delivery or pickup.
All sides acknowledge fewer pedestrians may be on the street in January due to the cold weather. Correspondingly, many area residents live elsewhere in the winter and will return in the spring so there is a possibility more people will be walking downtown in a couple of months.
Besides the traffic issues, there is some trepidation about the permanent removal of ten parallel parking spaces on Deerpath.
Olson explained that’s being done due to safety concerns.
“Right now there are parallel parking spaces on Deerpath that go right up to crosswalks. That makes it hard for both the driver and pedestrian to see each other and that is against Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) regulations,” she said.
While there seems to be a general agreement among all stakeholders the water main replacement work is necessary, Roberts is questioning the planned streetscape work set to include new trees, decorative elements, and hanging planter baskets.
“It will be beautiful, I get it. But what is it really helping? Every single business on this street is established,” he said. “There are not empty storefronts that need to be filled because the street looks the way it does. So what is the real purpose here?”
City officials counter an enhancement of Deerpath has been considered for almost a decade with a goal of improving the aesthetics of the area as well as improving infrastructure.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of October, according to Olson.
The city is paying $4.2 million for the project, Olson said. She said that amount will be in addition to a $2 million grant from IDOT.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
