Hello Neighbors!

At the November HPCC Community Meeting, which will be held at 7pm on Thursday, November 16th at St. Andrew’s Church, the Port Authority and City Department of Mobility and Infrastructure will be gathering feedback from Highland Park residents on possible changes to the end-of-the-line turnaround patterns of the 71A and the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. This will be the fourth in a series of community meetings in Highland Park to discuss the BRT proposal, and our last opportunity to weigh in on the route component of the project.

In March, the HPCC was the first organization to host a Community Meeting to discuss the proposed BRT project. Based in part on positive feedback received at that meeting, the Port Authority, City, and other partners chose to move ahead with a BRT proposal that included a branch serving Highland Park, replacing the route of the current 71B. You can read more about that meeting and the proposal in the March and April editions of the HPCC newsletter.

As initially proposed, the BRT Highland Park Branch would follow the exact same route of the 71B; however at a subsequent workshop held at Union Project in June, a group of residents asked that the Port Authority evaluate the possibility of adjusting the end-of-the-line turnaround pattern to reduce bus traffic on N. Euclid and N. St. Clair. In response to that request, the Port Authority produced 2 alternate route options, which were released at the October HPCC Community Meeting. A copy of the current route and the 2 alternate options is available here and at the bottom of this post.

At the November HPCC Meeting, the Port Authority and City will be seeking feedback from the community on whether Highland Park Residents prefer to keep the current turnaround pattern, or would prefer one of the 2 alternate options. As part of this presentation, we will also be discussing location options for where buses layover at the end of the line, including the possible construction of a small building containing a restroom for bus drivers.

Please join us for this important discussion! Once again, the meeting will be held at 7pm on Thursday, November 16th at St. Andrew’s Church. If you have any questions, please contact HPCC president Jake Pawlak at jacob.pawlak@gmail.com.