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 600 block of Gunderson Avenue
End
Overview
Overview
At the April 8th, 2024 Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC reviewed a traffic calming petition for the 600 block of Gunderson Avenue. The TC recommended deploying temporary speed radar feedback signs on an interim basis and installing paint and post bump-outs at the intersection of Gunderson Avenue and Adams Street. Staff does not support the Commission’s recommendation to install paint and post bump-outs. Pending Village Board concurrence, staff would include this work as part of the upcoming Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
End
Recommendation
Recommendation
Staff recommends installing a paint and post pinch point on Gunderson south of the alley near Madison in place of the paint and post bump-outs at the Adams intersection recommended by the Transportation Commission.
Background
On September 17, 2021, the Village of Oak Park received a petition to implement traffic calming measures at the 600 block of Gunderson Avenue. The residents expressed concern regarding excessive speeds. The petition included signatures representing 51% of the street frontage and was certified as valid.
See Attachment A for a copy of the letter of explanation. See Attachment B for copies of the written public testimony received by the Village for these petitions. See Attachment C for the aerial imagery of the area.
The petitions were reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its April 8, 2024 meeting. Staff gave a presentation 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 staff’s presentation and public testimony, the Transportation Commission deliberated on the items. Relevant pages from the Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included in Attachment H.
At the April 8, 2024 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted five to zero (5-0) to:
• Install paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Gunderson Avenue and Adams Street (Attachment G)
• Deploy temporary speed radar feedback signs on an interim basis
Per a subsequent engineering review of the intersection, curb extensions can be installed on all four corners of the intersection. However, they will only bump out onto the Adams Street approaches as Gunderson Avenue is too narrow to support curb extensions that allow for turning room for vehicles.
Staff does not support the Transportation Commission’s recommendation to install bump-outs at the Adams and Gunderson intersection as the intersection has no speeding issue, no accidents on record, and a relatively low number of crossing pedestrians. Staff recommends installing a paint and post pinch point on Gunderson south of the alley next to Madison to indicate to drivers that they are entering a residential neighborhood and should reduce speed. This bump-out treatment is consistent with recommendations to calm traffic on side streets included in the Madison Street Corridor traffic study.
Pending Village Board approval, pavement markings and flexible delineators for either the staff recommended pinch point or the TC-recommended bump-outs will be installed as a change order with the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. Public Works staff would install the temporary speed feedback signage.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
Mid-block traffic and speed data was collected on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, along the 600 blocks of Gunderson Avenue, Scoville Avenue, and Elmwood Avenue. Volumes along Gunderson Avenue (400 vehicles per day) are lower than typical residential streets in the Village and approximately equivalent to the adjacent block of Scoville, indicating that there is likely not a significant amount of cut-through or non-local traffic along Gunderson Avenue. At about 225 and 450 vehicles per day respectively, Scoville Avenue and Elmwood Avenue also carry very low volumes.
Speed data was another component of the mid-block data collection. A review of Gunderson Avenue speed data shows a nearly 80% compliance rate with the 25-mph speed limit with more than 90% of the vehicles traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. There is a variation of 8 miles per hour between the highest and lowest 85th percentile speeds during the day. The highest 85th percentile speeds were recorded at 6:00 AM (29 mph) and the lowest speeds were recorded at 7:00 PM (21 mph).
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment E)
Turning movement data was collected at the intersection of Gunderson Avenue for six (6) hours on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, using a Miovision Scout Video camera system. Bicycle and pedestrian data were gathered in addition to the vehicular turning movement volumes. The traffic data was collected on a weekday with typical traffic patterns while school was in session. See Attachment E for a summary of the results.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment F)
Crash data from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park was analyzed to evaluate safety trends on the 600 block of Gunderson Avenue. Data ranged from August 2018 through July 2023, a five-year period. The data indicated that there were no mid-block collisions along the 600 block of Gunderson Avenue during the five-year period.
Crashes at the adjacent intersections were also assessed. There were no crashes reported at Gunderson Avenue/Adams Street. One crash was reported at the intersection of Gunderson Avenue/Jackson Boulevard. This was a fixed object crash where the driver fell asleep while driving and hit a tree.
Over the five-year period, there were no reported crashes at Gunderson Avenue and Adams Street. The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) entering the intersection of Gunderson Avenue/Adams Street as determined by the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study is 1,256 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Gunderson Avenue/Adams Street intersection is zero accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV). This crash rate is below the critical crash rate, 1.029 Acc/MEV, calculated by that study for the south middle section of the Village (from South Boulevard to I-290 Expressway between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard).
Over the five-year period, there was one reported crashes at Gunderson Avenue and Jackson Boulevard. The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) entering the intersection of Gunderson Avenue/Jackson Blvd as determined by the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study is 12,624 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Gunderson Avenue/Jackson Blvd intersection is 0.07 accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV). This crash rate is below the critical crash rate, 1.029 Acc/MEV, calculated by that study for the south middle section of the Village (from South Boulevard to I-290 Expressway between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard).
Fiscal Impact
Staff estimates a cost of approximately $3,000 to install the staff-recommended paint and post pinch point south of Madison on the 500 block of Gunderson. Staff estimates a cost of approximately $7,000 to install the Transportation Commission’s recommended paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Gunderson and Adams.
Pending Village Board approval, staff will include this work as part of the current 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. Should this additional work require an amendment to 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 for these improvements in the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget in the Capital Improvement Fund (CIP), Public Works - Engineering, Traffic Calming Improvements, account no. 3095-43780-101-570955.
DEI Impact
N/A
Alternatives
Staff does not support the Transportation Commission’s recommendation to install bump-outs at the Adams and Gunderson intersection as the intersection has no speeding issue, no accidents on record, and a relatively low number of crossing pedestrians. Staff recommends installing a paint and post pinch point on Gunderson south of the alley next to Madison to indicate to drivers that they are entering a resident neighborhood and should reduce speed. This bump-out treatment is consistent with the recommendations to calm traffic on side streets included in the Madison Street Corridor traffic study.
Previous Board Action
N/A
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
At the April 8th, 2024 Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC recommended deploying temporary speed radar feedback signs on an interim basis and installing paint and post curb extensions at the intersection of Gunderson Avenue and Adams Street.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Pending Village Board approval of the installation of either recommendation, staff will include this work as part of the current 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project. Should this additional work require an amendment to the existing contract amount beyond the Village Manager’s spending authority, staff will present an item to the Board for a change order to the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A