New Pace Bus Facility Breaks Ground In Plainfield

PLAINFIELD, IL — Officials from Pace Bus and Plainfield joined representatives from Northern Builders, Inc. on Thursday to break ground on a future maintenance and storage garage near Pace's Park-n-Ride on Depot Drive.

Last April, the village approved the inter-governmental agreements for the construction of the new bus facility on the 11.92 acre site. The whole project will cost an estimated $52 million, according to a staff report on the issue, though village officials said earlier the entirety of that sum will be paid by Pace using resources from the State’s Rebuild Illinois Capital Program. The village will act only as a construction manager.

"It's a great opportunity to have further advancement of our partnership with Pace and start getting people efficiently to the city and the surrounding areas as well" said village trustee Harry Benton during a meeting last August, when the board approved the site plans for the project.

Jake Melrose, economic development manager for the Village of Plainfield, said Pace has been increasing storage limitations through the years as their services has grown in the southwest suburbs, particularly in Plainfield with the new Park-n-Ride facility that opened in 2019.

He said the proposed new facility will allow Pace to grow their expanding services and eventually add more routes and different commuting options to the Plainfield Park-n-Ride. It will also initially bring in over 100 jobs to the community and then over 200 once full operational capacity has been reached.

Once constructed, the building will be 232,853 square feet. The facility will provide 136,680 square feet of bus storage space with the remainder of the square footage split between office service, maintenance, mechanical and repair areas. A 13,140 square feet of office space will also be constructed for future use.

"As we navigate through these difficult times, it’s important to remember that public transportation will be a key piece of our region’s recovery," said Pace Chairman Rick Kwasneski in a release. "By keeping these important infrastructure projects moving forward we ensure that we will be ready for that recovery."

Plainfield Mayor Michael P. Collins said the village is pleased to partner with Pace to give residents the much-needed access to transportation.

"This facility will support the service that connects the people of Plainfield and neighboring communities to employment, education and medical care," he said.

Learn more about the project here.