The Chicago Bears’ potential move to Arlington Heights has neighboring suburb Rolling Meadows preparing for the impact of a possible NFL stadium.
The Rolling Meadows City Council approved hiring three consultants during Tuesday night’s meeting to study how traffic and noise would impact the suburb in the event of a Bears move to the northwest.
“As we begin to dive into some of the specifics of the Arlington Park redevelopment for the potential future home of the Chicago Bears, and so we are in the process right now of evaluating the traffic and looking at the different impacts that might come to our community,” Rolling Meadows city manager Rob Sabo said.
The Chicago Bears paid nearly $200 million in 2023 to buy the 326-acre Arlington Park racetrack in Arlington Heights. The border of Rolling Meadows surrounds the north, west, and south sides of Arlington Park.
“(We’re) working with our neighbors in Arlington Heights to make sure that this is a project that really is a win-win for everyone here in the northwest suburbs,” Sabo said.
Rolling Meadows wants to make sure it won’t lose money on maintaining roads and infrastructure — if the Bears build a stadium and entertainment complex.
“We’ve had informal conversations with the Chicago Bears,” Sabo said. “So, we are working with the anticipation that it (Bears stadium) is coming. Obviously, that’s a decision at the end of the day for the Chicago Bears to ultimately make.”
A Rolling Meadows gas station at Euclid Avenue and Hicks Road just west of Arlington Park welcomes a potential Bears stadium.
“We can sell more gallons. We can sell more things inside the store. So, we are really excited for that,” manager Godson Kuriakose said.
Kuriakose said customers also want the Bears to move to the suburbs.
“When I talk to the (neighbors), they are also happy because they are going to be more fortunate because the property value is going up,” Kuriakose said.
While Sabo said that property values in the suburb could increase in the event of a Bears move, it was not a certainty.
“We haven’t gotten information with respect to the impacts on property values. The anticipation is that they will have a positive impact,” Sabo said.
While property values could increase, so would traffic around an NFL stadium and entertainment complex.
“We are going to be working with our neighbors in Arlington Heights to make sure that the traffic impacts work well for both of us and that as people come down (Interstate) 90 and (Illinois Route) 53 that they’re getting into the venue and out of it as efficiently as possible,” Sabo said.
Rolling Meadows officials believe a new NFL stadium could also bring improvements to train and bus transportation.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity to tap into the economic development opportunities to bring some revolutionary transit improvements to our area,” Sabo said. “But ultimately, at the end of the day, I think people also want to really see that this is a development that works for everyone and doesn’t too badly impact day-to-day life.”
Rolling Meadows expects the consultants it has hired to study traffic and noise impact to have the results back in the next few months.
Arlington Heights is still awaiting the results of its traffic and economic impact studies of a potential Bears stadium at Arlington Park.
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