A former service alley in the heart of Lake Forest's Central Business District is now a pedestrian gathering space, and local restaurants tested the new corridor on Thursday, July 2, when 14 food vendors filled the block for the inaugural Bites on Bank festival.
The Bank Lane Pedestrian Corridor Enhancement Project, completed in fall 2025, converted the block between Deerpath Road and Southgate from a narrow, vehicle-focused lane into a brick-paved corridor built to host outdoor dining, live music, and community events. The city budgeted $1,632,394 for the work, according to its public works "Investing in the Future" update.
For generations, Bank Lane functioned as a delivery route and back-door connector for shops and restaurants. The upgrade introduced expanded pedestrian space, new hardscape, upgraded utilities, and a herringbone brick paving pattern that matches the character of the surrounding district.
The corridor can now be closed to traffic for events, giving the city a dedicated outdoor venue in its retail core.
Part of a larger downtown investment
Bank Lane's transformation ran concurrent with the $3.29 million Deerpath Streetscape Project, which reopened Deerpath Road to vehicle traffic on Friday, October 31, 2025, after nearly 10 months of construction. That project added accessible sidewalks with brick paver crosswalks, granite cobble curbs, new trees, planters, landscaped bump-outs, upgraded utilities, and new lighting.
Together, the two projects represent roughly $4.9 million in downtown infrastructure spending. A separate $1.27 million watermain replacement beneath Deerpath, which swapped out a 100-year-old pipe between Green Bay Road and Western Avenue, brought the full corridor investment to approximately $6.2 million.
The Deerpath project drew on planning that began in 2016 and included a City Manager's Advisory Committee formed in 2019. The city secured a $2 million Illinois Department of Transportation grant in April 2023 to help fund the streetscape work.
First event puts the space to use
The July 2 Bites on Bank festival, held from 5 to 8 p.m., featured 14 local restaurants and food shops serving in the open-air corridor. WasteNot Compost provided compostable dishes and flatware. No official attendance figures have been released.
The Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce launched an "Open for Business Promotion" in November 2025 to drive visitors back to the downtown area after construction wrapped.
The city has not announced a date for the next Bank Lane event.
