An Excellent Street Makeover in Downtown Aurora

By John Greenfield
Feb 18, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 4.43.53 PM — Corner bump-outs with rain gardens shorten crossing distances. Image: Google Streetview

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 4.44.44 PM — Before the makeover, Downer Place was a wide one-way street. Image: Google Street View

Here’s a cool project that was completed in 2013 in downtown Aurora on Stolp Island, a piece of land in the middle of the Fox River that’s home to the Hollywood Casino. The Downer Place streetscape project included corner bump-outs to shorten pedestrian crossing distances, storm water-absorbing rain gardens, brick crosswalks, and attractive plantings.

As part of the project, Downer Place was converted from a two-lane, one-way street to a two-way thoroughfare. The streetscape was partly funded by a $70,000 Illinois Green Infrastructure Grant Program from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Hat tip to Ted Villaire from the Active Transportation Alliance for alerting me about this nifty street remix.

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