Submitted By
Ron Burke, Transportation Commission Chairperson Bill McKenna, Village Engineer/Assistant Public Works Director
Reviewed By
Erin E. Baynes, Assistant to the Village Manager
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Motion to Concur with the Transportation Commission’s Recommendations for Traffic Calming at the 900 Block of Home Avenue Including the Installation of Paint and Post Bump-Outs Mid-Block and the Home Avenue and Lexington Intersection and the Installation of Flashing Stop Signs at the Home and Garfield Intersection
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Overview
Overview
At the March 11, 2024, and the May 13, 2024, Transportation Commission (TC) meetings, the TC reviewed a traffic calming petition for the 900 block of Home Avenue. The TC recommended the installation of a pair of bump-outs to create a chicane on the 900 block, install paint and post curb extensions at the Home and Lexington intersection, install flashing stop signs at Home and Garfield, and add pedestrian crossing signage on Garfield at Home Avenue.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Adopt the Motion.
Background
On September 21, 2021, the Village of Oak Park received a petition to implement traffic calming measures at the 900 block of Home Avenue. The residents expressed concern for excessive speeds along the block and the disregard of the stop signs on Garfield Street at the intersection with Home Avenue. The petition included signatures representing 62% of the street frontage and was certified as valid.
Attachment A includes a copy of the letter of explanation. Attachment B includes copies of the written public testimony received by the Village for these petitions. Attachment C includes aerial imagery of the area.
The petition was reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its March 11, 2024 meeting. Staff gave a presentation on the issues including background on the petition, history of the area, analysis of the collected traffic data, collision diagrams, and recommendations. Residents provided public testimony on the items. After hearing the staff’s presentation and public testimony, the Transportation Commission deliberated additional options to address the elevated speeds on Home Avenue. Relevant pages from the Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included in Attachment H.
At the March 11, 2024 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted 5-1 to:
1. Install a chicane comprised of two 26-foot-long paint and post bump-outs near the midpoint of the 900 block of Home Avenue
2. Install paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Home Avenue and Lexington Street
3. Construct a raised intersection at Home Avenue and Garfield Street
4. Install flashing red lights on stop signs at the intersection of Garfield Street and Home Avenue
5. Supplement the existing school crossing signs on the east and west legs of Garfield Street with yellow flashing lights
Staff discussed this item further with the Transportation Commission during its May 13, 2024 meeting. At that meeting, staff presented additional information from an engineering investigation of raising the intersection of Home Avenue and Garfield. This analysis found that installing a raised intersection is not feasible without significant reconfigurations to Home Avenue estimated to cost $180,000. Additionally, due to the existing elevations and grades along Home Avenue, it is not feasible to raise the intersection more than two inches without adversely affecting drainage patterns. Raising the intersection by two inches would not appreciably alter how it looks and operates. Finally, installing a raised intersection would require removing the curb extensions installed in 2023. The possibility of a raised intersection will continue to be explored and potentially installed as part of the upcoming replacement of the Home Avenue pedestrian bridge.
During this meeting, the Transportation Commission was also advised that staff would not support the recommendation for flashing stop signs at the Garfield Street and Home Avenue or the installation of flashing pedestrian signage. Two adjacent flashing signs would be a distraction to drivers. The TC agreed and revised the recommendation to install flashing stop signs and traditional pedestrian crossing signage.
Relevant pages from the May 13, 2024, Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment I.
Pending Village Board approval, pavement markings and flexible delineators for the mid-block chicane on the 900 block of Home Avenue and the curb extensions at Lexington Street and Home Avenue will be installed as a change order in the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. The flashing stop signs are already included in the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project’s scope as Garfield will be resurfaced. Public Works staff plan to install pedestrian crossing signage at the Garfield and Home intersection.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
Mid-block traffic and speed data was collected along the 900 blocks of Wenonah Avenue, Home Avenue, and Clinton Avenue over a 24-hour period using tube and radar counters. Home Avenue and Clinton Avenue data was collected on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, while Wenonah Avenue was collected over a three-day period between May 23 and May 25, 2023.
ADT volumes on many Oak Park residential streets range between 800 and 1,200 vehicles per day. Volumes fall within this range, indicating that there is likely not a significant amount of cut-through or non-local traffic along Home Avenue. At about 400 vehicles per day, Clinton Avenue and Wenonah Avenue carry a very low volume. Garfield Street is classified as a collector in the Village and is a frontage road to I-290. Thus, it carries higher traffic volumes compared to a typical residential block.
Speed data is another component of the mid-block data collection effort. A review of the Home Avenue speed data shows a nearly 50% compliance rate with the 25-mph speed limit and that around 90% of vehicles are traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. There is a variation of 6 miles per hour between the highest and lowest 85th percentile speeds during the day. The highest 85th percentile speeds were recorded at midnight and 6:00 a.m. (32 mph) and the lowest speeds were recorded at 5 p.m. (26 mph).
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment E)
In order to quantify vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes at the Garfield Street and Home Avenue intersection, 24-hour counts were conducted on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, using a Miovision Scout video camera system. The traffic data was collected on a weekday with typical traffic patterns and while school was in session. Conditions were sunny with a high of 81 degrees and a low of 51 degrees. This weather was ideal for pedestrian and bicycle activity. See Attachment E for a summary of the results.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment F)
In order to evaluate safety trends on the 900 block of Home Avenue, reported crash data was obtained from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park from August 2018 through July 2023, a five-year period. This data shows that there were two (2) mid-block collisions along the 900 block of Home Avenue during the five-year period. Both crashes were vehicles colliding with parked cars, with one a southbound crash and the other a northbound crash.
Crashes at the adjacent intersections were also assessed. There were two (2) crashes reported at Home Avenue/Garfield Street. Two crashes were reported at the intersection of Home Avenue/Lexington, with one right-angle crash causing a minor injury to the driver of the struck vehicle.
The number of reported crashes that occurred over a five-year period at Home Avenue and Garfield Street is two (2). The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) entering the intersection of Home Avenue/Garfield Street as determined by the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study was 6,100 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Home Avenue/Garfield Street intersection is 0.18 accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV). This crash rate is below the critical crash rate calculated for the south section of the Village (south of the I-290 Eisenhower Expressway between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard) as determined in the area-wide traffic study of 1997 (0.945 Acc/MEV).
The number of reported crashes that occurred over a five-year period at Home Avenue and Lexington Street is two (2). The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) entering the intersection of Home Avenue/ Lexington Street as determined by the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study was 2,436 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Home Avenue/Lexington Street intersection is 0.75 accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV). This crash rate is below the critical crash rate calculated for the south section of the Village (south of the I-290 Eisenhower Expressway between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard) as determined in the area-wide traffic study of 1997 (0.945 Acc/MEV).
Fiscal Impact
Staff estimates that it will cost approximately $3,000 to install the paint and post chicane treatments on the 900 block of Home Avenue and $7,000 to install the paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Home Avenue and Lexington Street. The total project cost is estimated at $10,000.
Pending Village Board approval of the installation of the paint and post bump outs and chicanes, staff will include this work as part of the current 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. Should this additional work require amending the existing contract amount beyond the Village Manager’s spending authority, staff will present an item at an upcoming Village Board meeting for a change order to the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. There are available funds in the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget in the Capital Improvement Fund (CIP), Public Works - Engineering, Traffic Calming Improvements, account no. 3095-43780-101-570955 to fund these improvements.
DEI Impact
N/A
Alternatives
The Board can delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
N/A
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
At the March 11th, 2024 Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC recommended to:
1. Install a chicane comprised of two 26-foot-long paint and post bump-outs near the midpoint of the 900 block of Home Avenue
2. Install paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Home Avenue and Lexington Street
3. Construct a raised intersection at Home Avenue and Garfield Street
4. Install flashing red lights on stop signs at the intersection of Garfield Street and Home Avenue
5. Supplement the existing school crossing signs on the east and west legs of Garfield Street with yellow flashing lights
The motion passed 5-1.
At the May 13, 2024, Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC revised their recommendations to remove their recommendation #3 for the raised intersection and have it evaluated as part of the future Home Avenue Bridge replacement project. The TC also revised their recommendation #5 to remove the flashing yellow pedestrian crossing signage:
1. Install a chicane comprised of two 26-foot-long paint and post bump-outs near the midpoint of the 900 block of Home Avenue
2. Install paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Home Avenue and Lexington Street
3. Construct a raised intersection at Home Avenue and Garfield Street
4. Install flashing stop signs at the intersection of Garfield Street and Home Avenue
5. Install pedestrian crossing signs on the east and west legs of Garfield Street
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Pending Village Board approval of the installation of the paint and post bump outs and chicanes, staff will present an item at an upcoming Village Board meeting for a change order to include this work in the ongoing 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
The TC recommended that the Garfield and Home Avenue intersection be a raised intersection as part of the design and construction project for the replacement of the Home Avenue Bridge. Staff will include this in the scope of the future project.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A