Barrington to revamp downtown streetscape with planters, seat walls, new trees
Barrington officials this week previewed plans for an overhaul of the downtown streetscape.
Daniel Grove, landscape architect and planner with Warrenville-based consultant Kimley-Horn, shared several conceptual drawings with the village board Monday.
Areas slated for a makeover include the corner of Cook and Station streets, which will be enhanced with planters, seat walls and pavers.
Plans also include:
• A 50% bigger electronic message sign on Main Street;
• An improved gazebo area near Main and Hough Street with seat walls, additional lighting, bollards to protect pedestrians and possibly a historic fountain;
• Curb improvements, relocated benches and planters with trees near the Starbucks on Hough Street;
• A seating area and a plaza area around the flagpole on the village hall frontage.
Grove said the proposal targets 36 existing trees for removal, but will introduce 40 new ones.
“We're putting more trees back in than we've removed, and we believe we're putting them back in better conditions that will be better for their growth,” he said.
Raised planters with six-inch curbs will protect trees from salt and create larger areas for trees to grow. In areas with narrower sidewalks where planters aren’t feasible, there will be “soil cells,” void spaces filled with uncompacted soil that allow tree roots to thrive.
In addition to sprucing up the downtown, the plan will address such overdue maintenance issues as replacing failing concrete pavers.
Trustee Kate Duncan was pleased with the proposed improvements around village hall.
“It makes it so much more inviting,” she said. “People could actually stop and linger here for a minute.”
Trustee Jennifer Wondrasek had reservations about losing existing trees.
“A hard pill to swallow is the removal of all these trees, because some of them, especially the ones on Main Street, they have some substance to them,” she said.
Officials said work on the improvements at Cook and Station will begin in the fall, with work at Hough and Main on deck for next year. Costs are still being determined.