Officials celebrate groundbreaking for new Pace Plainfield facility

The start of construction of a new Pace Maintenance Storage Garage was celebrated by officials from Pace Bus and the Village of Plainfield, along with representatives from Northern Builders, Inc.

The new garage is near the current Pace Plainfield Park & Ride on Depot Drive.

In April 2020, the Pace Board of Directors and the Village of Plainfield approved inter-governmental agreements for the construction of the new bus facility on the 11.92-acre site.

Estimated to cost $52 million, the facility’s construction will be funded by Pace using resources from the State’s Rebuild Illinois Capital Program. Pace joins the Village of Plainfield and Northern Builders, Inc. as part of their Depot Drive Public-Private Partnership, where Northern Builders, Inc. serves as the Design-Build Contractor to complete the design and construct the facility.

“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. “By keeping these important infrastructure projects moving forward we ensure that we will be ready for that recovery.”

This facility will allow for the expansion of Pace’s Bus on Shoulder Express Service and create space for additional vehicles needed to operate the popular service which takes commuters from various south region park-n-rides to downtown Chicago using the shoulder on I-55 to bypass congestion. Ridership on the service grew more than 600 percent since the implementation of shoulder use in 2011.

“This facility will support the service that connects the people of Plainfield and neighboring communities to employment, education and medical care,” said Village of Plainfield Mayor Michael P. Collins. “We are pleased to again partner with Pace to make sure our residents have the access to transportation they need and the opportunities that come with it.”