Westmont awards $1.63M Burlington Avenue realignment; downtown businesses warn of parking impacts

The Westmont Village Board on March 5 approved a $1,627,982.76 contract with Alamp Concrete Contractors to realign Burlington Avenue and relocate sanitary, water and storm sewers, install dark‑sky street lighting and reconstruct curb, gutter and sidewalks.

Director Ree said the low bid was competitive and that the roadway portion of the project would require closing Burlington Avenue to traffic during reconstruction, though the village would try to keep the adjacent public parking lot open "as much as we can." She said the project includes landscape restoration and street lights designed to reduce glare.

The public comment period produced strong, at times emotional statements from downtown business owners who warned the board that losing or reducing parking would harm restaurants and event business. Steven Fleck, who identified himself as an owner/operator of Dolce Restaurant & Winebar, told trustees, "This is being done to hand this to a developer on a silver platter and say here's one parcel," and asked trustees to pause and re‑engage stakeholders.

Former Chicago resident Joseph Duny raised safety concerns about insufficient parking and the risk of emergency vehicles being unable to pass if cars park on narrow streets.

Brian Shuring, a resident who spoke earlier during open forum, offered a different perspective and said he has not experienced shortage of downtown parking and that adding businesses downtown is a priority.

Staff response and mitigation

Village staff acknowledged the potential for disruption and pledged stronger outreach and on‑the‑ground communication. Assistant Manager Parker and Director Ree described a traffic control plan, planned detours to Irving, additional blue public‑parking signage, coordination with Pace to relocate a bus stop and efforts to keep at least one parking entrance to the lot available during construction. The village also said it will hold frequent updates with affected business owners and explore public‑private parking options.

Timeline and vote

Director Ree said the contractor could begin mobilization in roughly three to four weeks following contract finalization and a preconstruction meeting; the contract includes a September 25 substantial/completion deadline. The board approved the contract by roll call; votes recorded a majority in favor with one trustee dissenting.

What's next

Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring; staff said they will increase outreach to downtown merchants and residents before and during construction and will coordinate detours, signage and bus‑stop relocations to minimize commercial disruption.