ELMHURST, IL \u2013 Elmhurst Alderman Jacob Hill on Tuesday joined his colleagues in voting to spend $240,000 to repair one of the city’s three parking decks.<\/p>\n
But he said the city should consider long-term strategies for its mostly “underutilized” decks. <\/p>\n
The repairs are being made to the city’s deck at Adelaide Street and Adell Place, which Hill said he understood was usually full. <\/p>\n At the same time, Hill noted Metra train ridership has declined since 2019. And he said new housing developments downtown take care of their own parking.<\/p>\n “Perhaps we can use this as an opportunity going forward to look at the utilization of our parking decks,” Hill said.<\/p>\n Two years ago, Elmhurst closed the top level of the parking deck at 149 N. Addison Ave., which it built in 2016. <\/p>\n At the time, the city said it was doing so because of low demand for parking and “youth vandalism and disruptive behavior.”<\/p>\n Since then, the city has arrested people, typically those in their teens or early 20s, on charges of trespassing, among other offenses, on the top level. <\/p>\n In April, the City Council increased parking fees to wipe out shortfalls in the city’s parking account. The deficits are the result of fewer residents commuting to Chicago since the pandemic. <\/p>\n At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council unanimously approved Tinley Park-based J. Gill and Company for repairing the deck. Alderman Guido Nardini was absent.<\/p>\nFind out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.<\/h2>\n
Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.<\/h2>\n