Campus projects and the college calendar
The community college campus takes up a big chunk of River Grove and keeps contractors busy with building renovations, parking lot repaves and athletic field work, mostly scheduled for summer when classes are light. Units for those projects go inside the fenced contractor area the college's facilities office designates, and service is timed for early morning before the commuter lots fill. When the athletic fields host tournaments or the campus holds outdoor events, organizers add standard and ADA accessible units on the paved edges of the fields.
The river side and the wet blocks
River Grove's western blocks slope down to the Des Plaines, and the streets nearest the river have flooded in the big storm years. Homeowners there rebuilding after water damage, raising foundations or replacing garages need a unit that will not sink into the saturated lawn, so we set it on plywood on the driveway or the highest part of the lot. The forest preserve trail along the river is county land and off limits without the district's permit. On the drier eastern blocks toward Elmwood Park, the brick bungalows have driveways and detached garages, and the unit sits beside the garage for the length of a project.
Grand Avenue and Belmont carry the village's businesses, and roof and parking lot jobs there put a standard unit at the back edge of the lot.
Trains, bridges and the weekly pass
The Milwaukee District West line crosses Thatcher Avenue at grade beside the station, and the gates drop for commuter trains and freight alike, so our driver comes in from Grand Avenue or Belmont rather than sitting at the crossing during rush hour. The river bridges on Grand and Belmont are the only ways west, which matters when the driver continues to Franklin Park and Melrose Park on the same run. Weekly service falls on the Northwest loop shared with Elmwood Park and Schiller Park.
During flood watches on the river the driver checks with river-side customers before attempting a low street.