By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
The village’s new PACE park-n-ride facility has attracted hundreds of cars per day since it officially opened last month. Now, the village will add some security measures to keep the property of those drivers who park before they board buses and head into Chicago.
On Sept. 17, the village board approved a proposal from Umbrella Technologies to add security cameras at the park-n-ride facility on Van Dyke Road and Depot Drive. The new high definition cameras, which will cost $58,743, will integrate with the existing security infrastructure.
Wiring for the security system will be installed as part of the overall construction, which continues along the shelter and other parts of the site even though the lot is now open.
The village will be responsible for providing and maintaining the security camera system.
“This was discussed as part of the overall agreement with PACE,” said village administrator Brian Murphy. “PACE installed all of the conduit and wiring for this at entirely their cost. This is something that we wanted to have installed on the property specifically for the police department to be able to manage the challenges that sometimes come with a 600-unit parking lot.”
The cameras are the same as the cameras currently used at the Law Enforcement center.
The plan includes 18 cameras to monitor the parking area and shelter building as well as monitoring ingress and egress of the lot at Depot Drive.
Additional cameras will be placed to monitor ingress and egress of Depot Drive to Van Dyke Road.
The security system hardware will be housed at the site in a secure room of the shelter building.
The Plainfield Police Department will have secure remote access to review footage on the system.
The system will retain footage for 30 days, and video can be exported to other media if needed.
Funding for this project will come from the Capital Improvement Fund for designated for the park-n-ride facility.
Trustees were pleased with the plan to add the security measures.
“I think it’s a wise choice to approve this, due to the fact that there will be crime in that parking lot just because there are a lot of unattended cars,” said Trustee Brian Wojowski. “There will be burglaries, there will be potential for the catalytic converter thefts that go on. And, it’s essential to have security system on that lot so it will help the police department see who’s going in and who’s going out, as well as the events that [are held] in that lot. I think it’s wise if we’re going to make it a venue destination to have appropriate security.”
The PACE lot will host a beer festival this coming weekend.
The shelter is expected to open in October.
The $5 million PACE park-n-ride facility opened on Aug. 13. The project broke ground in fall 2017, after a deal was struck between the village and PACE.
The 600-space lot includes an entrance drive from Van Dyke Road with a traffic signal and turn lanes, and a shelter with washrooms included as part of the bus depot.
The plan for the new facility includes a 1,600-square foot building with restrooms.
Approximately 250 people use the buses every day from Plainfield’s two stops. The two routes – Route 855 and Route 755 – consist of a total of 36 buses per day.
The village entered into an agreement with PACE last year to build the depot, which is situated on about 10 acres of village owned land. PACE is reimbursing the village the full tab for the $5 million project.