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A Motion to Concur with the Transportation Commission’s Recommendations for Traffic Calming at Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street and Direct Staff to Prepare the Necessary Ordinance to Upgrade the Intersection to an All-Way Stop
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Introduction
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At the September 8th Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC reviewed a traffic calming petition at the Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street intersection. The TC voted to concur with the staff recommendations to install the recommended traffic calming items including paint and post curb extensions and high-visibility crosswalk markings and additional voted to upgrade the intersection to all-way stop controlled.
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Recommended Action
Adopt the Motion.
Prior Board Action
There is no prior Board action associated with this item.
Background
On December 28, 2024, the Village of Oak Park received a petition to implement traffic calming measures at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street. The residents expressed concerns regarding pedestrian safety and driver confusion regarding the lack of stop signs on the Clinton Avenue approaches. This petition was precipitated by a fatal pedestrian crash.
See Attachment A for a copy of the letter of explanation. Public testimony was received. See attachment B for public testimony. See Attachment C for the aerial imagery of the area.
The petition was reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its September 8th, 2025 meeting. Staff gave a presentation on the issues, including background on the petition, history of the area, analysis of the collected traffic data, collision diagram, and recommendations. Residents provided public testimony on the items. After hearing the staff’s presentation and public testimony, the Transportation Commission deliberated on the items. Relevant pages from the Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment H.
At the September 8th, 2025, meeting, the Transportation Commission voted five to zero to:
- Install stop signs on the Clinton Avenue approaches at the intersection
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street intersection, extending onto Lexington Street only
- Install high-visibility crosswalk pavement markings on the north and south legs of Clinton Avenue
- Install “No Parking to Here to Corner” signs at all four corners of the intersection to reinforce parking clearance restrictions in the Illinois Vehicle Code
The “No Parking Here to Corner” signs will be installed by Village Public Works crews. Pending Village Board approval, the stop signs will be installed by the Village Public Works crews after the staff prepares the necessary ordinance, while the pavement markings and posts will be installed as part of the 2026 Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
Twenty-four hours of traffic data were also collected along the four legs at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street. The data was collected on Thursday, April 3, 2025. One component of the traffic data is Average Daily Traffic (ADT), which is the number of vehicles counted over a 24-hour period. The volume along Clinton Avenue is around 400 vehicles per day, while the volume on Lexington Street is around 1,700 vehicles per day. The volumes on Clinton Avenue are lower than those on typical Oak Park residential streets, while the volume on Lexington Street is higher, suggesting it might be acting as a collector between Harlem Avenue and S. East Avenue, providing access to Harlem Avenue and Oak Park Avenue.
The volumes along Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street are highest between the 7:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 PM periods. The volumes at the south leg of Clinton Avenue are higher than the north leg because of the turning vehicles to/from Lexington Street.
A review of the Clinton Avenue speed data shows more than 95% of the vehicles are traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. The 85th percentile speeds tend to be consistent during the entire day for both the north and south legs, with the south leg recording higher speeds. There are some higher speeds observed during the late night and early morning hours at the north leg of Clinton Avenue. The volume is very low during that hour; therefore, one speeding vehicle could be skewing the data.
Lexington Street speed data shows around a 75% compliance rate with the 25-mph speed limit, and more than 95% of the vehicles are traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. The 85th percentile speeds tend to be consistent during the entire day. Similar to Clinton Avenue, there are some higher speeds observed during the early morning hours.
The overall recorded speeds are low due to the narrow width of Clinton Avenue, along with the utilization of on-street parking on both Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street.
See Attachment D for a summary of the results.
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment E)
In order to quantify vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street, six-hour counts were conducted on Thursday, April 3, 2025, using a video camera system. The traffic data was collected on a weekday with typical traffic patterns while school was in session. Conditions were sunny with a high of 65 degrees and a low of 45 degrees. This weather was conducive to pedestrian and bicycle activity. The traffic count data shows that the morning peak hour occurs between 7:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., and the evening traffic volume is highest between 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
This shows a higher volume of northbound to eastbound right turns compared to the other turning movements. This could be attributed to the traffic turning onto Lexington Street from Clinton Avenue to access Oak Park Avenue. Overall, volumes at this intersection are low. Bicycle activity was also low during the data collection period.
See Attachment E for a summary of the results.
Crash History - Collision Diagram (Attachment F)
In order to evaluate safety trends at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street, reported crash data was obtained from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park from June 2020 through June 2025, a five-year period. There were seven crashes reported during this period. One of these was a fatal, intersection-related pedestrian crash, in which a vehicle traveling southbound on Clinton Avenue turned left onto Lexington Street, failed to yield, and struck the pedestrian. Additionally, five crashes were identified as parked vehicle collisions, which can be attributed to the utilization of on-street parking.
While this five-year period included one fatal crash, a review of recent events suggests an emerging safety trend. A recent crash on August 15th, 2025, which falls outside the analyzed five-year period, was an intersection-related bicycle crash. In this B-level injury crash, a vehicle traveling northbound on Clinton Avenue struck a young bicyclist traveling eastbound. The occurrence of two vulnerable road user crashes - one fatal and one B-level injury - in a single year points to a pattern that warrants further safety evaluation and intervention.
See Attachment F for the collision diagram.
Timing Considerations
Approval of the Motion at this time will allow staff to implement the recommended traffic calming items in a timely fashion. Pending Village Board approval, staff will include the paint and post work as part of the design of the upcoming 2026 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. The stop signs will be installed by the Village Public Works Crew after the staff prepares an ordinance for Village Board approval.
Budget Impact
Staff estimate that it will cost $9,600 to install the pavement markings, and bump-outs using paint and post treatments. Pending Village Board approval, staff will include this work as part of the planned 2026 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. The recommended FY26 Capital Improvement Plan includes funds for this work in the Capital Improvement Fund, Public Works - Engineering, Traffic Calming Improvements account no. 3095.43780.101.570955.
Staffing Impact
This is a core service responsibility of the Engineering Division of the Public Works Department. Implementation of this item has minimal staffing impact. Preparing the materials for the Transportation Commission for this traffic calming petition took around 60 hours, including obtaining and analyzing traffic data, preparing exhibits, and presenting at the commission meeting. Including the design of the traffic calming improvements into the street resurfacing project and preparing an ordinance to install the signs is a minimal effort and would take somewhere in the range of 20 hours.
DEI Impact
The Vision Zero plan highlights that traffic accidents disproportionately affect minority communities within the Village. Traffic calming improvements will enhance safety for all users, with particular benefits for these vulnerable groups.
Community Input
On December 28, 2024, the Village of Oak Park received a petition to implement traffic calming measures at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street. The petition organizers were notified of the September 8th TC meeting regarding these petitions and public comments from residents were heard at the TC meeting. TC meeting minutes are attached for reference.
At the September 8th, 2025, Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC recommended to:
- Install stop signs on the Clinton Avenue approaches at the intersection
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street intersection, extending onto Lexington Street only
- Install high-visibility crosswalk pavement markings on the north and south legs of Clinton Avenue
- Install “No Parking to Here to Corner” signs at all four corners of the intersection to reinforce parking restrictions in the Illinois Vehicle Code
Staff Recommendation
Staff concurs with the Transportation Commission’s recommendations for traffic calming at the Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street intersection. Staff recommend adopting the motion.
Advantages:
• Traffic calming improvements will be installed per the Transportation Commission’s recommendation, which will slow traffic at the Clinton Avenue and Lexington Street intersection. The proposed paint and post curb extensions will improve safety.
Disadvantages:
• It will cost approximately $9,600 to install the recommended improvements as part of the 2026 Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
Alternatives
Alternative 1:
The Board can delay to gain additional information
Advantages:
• The Board can be presented with the requested information.
Disadvantages:
• Significant delays could impact the staff’s ability to incorporate the recommendations in 2026.
Alternative 2:
The Board can vote down the Motion.
Advantages:
• This action can result in cost savings of $9,600.
Disadvantages:
• This action is in misalignment with the Transportation Commission and Staff’s recommendation to address resident concerns.
• Potentially unsafe traffic conditions would persist.
• Resident concerns would not be addressed.
Anticipated Future Actions
Pending Village Board concurrence, staff will prepare the necessary ordinance to upgrade the intersection to all-way stop controlled.
Prepared By: Jenna Holzberg, Transportation Commission Chairperson; Bill McKenna, Village Engineer/Assistant Public Works Director
Reviewed By: Rob Sproule, Public Works Director
Approved By: Kevin J. Jackson, Village Manager
Attachment(s):
1. Recommendation Attachments