Arlington Heights Officials Aim to Upgrade Digital Signage To Improve Parking Near Restaurants and Business Apartments

The city of Arlington Heights,IL is considering a $420,000 proposal that would aim to upgrade some of the digital signage downtown to improve downtown parking and access to many places around town,including bars and short term rentals. The package would include digital payboxes,and electronic monitoring system and improved overall signage.

After officials did some preliminary research and presented to the board,it was decided that more research needs to be done and a decision won’t even be made for another 3-6 months.

“The board indicated it wanted to look at specific recommendations and options in terms of cost for new signage,especially the electronic sign for the garage,” Arlington Heights Village President Thomas Hayes said. “It’s a significant amount of money,but it is money well spent. The board wants to make sure it’s spending taxpayers’ money wisely.”

A lot of research and planning went into coming up with these figures,according to city officials. Looking at things like parking numbers and other factors contributed a lot to coming up with upgrades that made sense for the city,practically and financially.

Another way the group gathered data was by using surveys. This allowed them to hear directly from the residents who park near business apartments and other restaurants about exactly what they need in their day to day parking life.

It comes as no surprise that much research still needs to be done,not only for the corporate housing areas,but for parking lots in general. City planners are paid to analyze what makes sense for a city,and are really good at what they do.

While many of the options come with a hefty price tag,Arlington Heights is lucky enough to have a fund of $3M that is specifically slated for projects like the one they are researching now.