Submitted By
Ron Burke, Transportation Commission Chairperson Bill McKenna, Village Engineer
Reviewed By
Ahmad M. Zayyad, Deputy Village Manager / Interim Director of Development Customer Services
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Motion to Concur with the Transportation Commission’s Recommendations for Traffic Calming on the 1100 Block of Home Avenue
End
Overview
Overview
At the September 12, 2023 Transportation Commission meeting, the Commission reviewed a traffic calming petition for the 1100 block of Home Avenue. The Commission recommended installing a paint and post chicane comprised of two 26-foot-long bump outs near the midpoint of the block. Pending Village Board approval, staff would include this work with the ongoing Resurfacing of Various Streets capital improvement project.
End
Recommendation
Recommendation
Adopt the Motion.
Background
On September 1, 2020 the Village of Oak Park received a petition to implement traffic calming measures on the 1100 block of Home Avenue. Residents representing 54% of the street frontage for the 1100 block of Home Avenue signed the petition and the petition was certified as valid.
Reasons provided for the petition include: The residents expressed concerns regarding excessive speeds and volume of traffic along the 1100 block of Home Avenue.
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 this petition. See Attachment C for the aerial image of the 1100 block of Home Avenue.
The petition was initially reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its August 8, 2023 meeting. Staff gave a presentation of 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 staff’s presentation and public testimony, the Transportation Commission deliberated additional options to address the elevated speeds on Home Avenue. It was noted that Home Avenue is designated as part of the Neighborhood Greenway network. Ultimately, the item was tabled as the Commission requested Village staff to return with additional traffic calming options for the 1100 block of Home Avenue. Relevant pages from the August 8, 2023 Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment G.
Staff brought the item back to the Transportation Commission at its September 12, 2023 meeting. At that meeting, staff presented a recommendation to install a chicane comprised of two 26 foot-long paint and post bump-outs near the midpoint of the block. This option would require removing three parking spaces on the east side and one parking space on the west side (Attachment F). This treatment is consistent with Village’s Neighborhood Greenways plan. Relevant pages from the September 12, 2023 Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment H.
At the September 12, 2023 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted six to zero in favor of the following recommendation:
1. Install a paint and post chicane comprised of two 26-foot-long bump outs near the midpoint of the block.
Pending Village Board approval, pavement markings will be installed as part of the 23-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project and Public Works staff will purchase and install the delineator posts. A future amendment to the contract with R.W. Dunteman for Project 23-2, Resurfacing of Various Streets may be required to fund these additional costs.
The paint and post chicanes being recommended along the 1100 block of Home Avenue is planned to be made permanent with concrete curb extensions when this street is planned for resurfacing.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
Traffic data was collected along the 1100 blocks of Wisconsin Avenue, Wenonah Avenue, Home Avenue, and Clinton Avenue over a 24-hour period using tube counters. The Wisconsin Avenue and Wenonah Avenue data was collected Thursday, November 10, 2022, which was partly cloudy with a high temperature of 75 degrees. The traffic data for Home Avenue and Clinton Avenue was gathered one month later on Tuesday, December 13th. The weather on that day was cloudy with a high of 37 degrees. The two different days of counts were due to equipment issues. See Attachment D for a summary of the results of the study.
Reviewing the 24-hour volumes for the blocks studied; volumes on Home Avenue, approximately 1,100 to 1,200 vehicles per day, are typical for an Oak Park residential street, which range between 800 and 1,200 vehicles per day. Clinton Avenue is a low volume street with only around 500 to 600 vehicles per day. Wenonah Avenue is a very low volume street with only 200 vehicles per day. With a volume of about 700 to 800 vehicles per day, Wisconsin Avenue volume is close to typical of Oak Park residential streets.
A review of the Home Avenue speed data shows a compliance rate of close to 50% with the 25-mph speed limit and that around 90% of the vehicles are traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. The 85th percentile speed is 29 mph. The 85th percentile speed is the speed at which 85% of all drivers are traveling at or below. This metric is commonly used to measure the speed of traffic relative to the speed limit. Speeds on Clinton Avenue and Wenonah Avenue are lower. The 85th percentile speeds are 25 mph and 28 mph respectively with a greater than 70% compliance with the 25 mph speed limit. At 30 feet from curb to curb, Home Avenue is four feet wider than Wenonah Avenue and Clinton Avenue. This slightly greater width likely corresponds to the higher speeds on this block.
Traffic on Wisconsin Avenue moves at higher speeds. More than 60% of the vehicles are traveling higher than the 25 mph speed limit. The 85th percentile speed is 32 mph. This block likely has the highest speeds due to the lower amount of “friction” that drivers encounter as they traverse the street, as there is a limited number of parked vehicles on the east side of the street.
Additionally, as is the case on almost all streets locally, regionally, and even nationally, there is a small percentage (1% to 2%) of drivers that blatantly disregard the law and drive faster than ten miles per hour over the speed limit. Based on a review of the source data, there are almost twice as many northbound drivers traveling more than ten miles per hour over the speed limit than southbound motorists.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment E)
In order to evaluate safety trends on the 1100 block of Home Avenue, reported crash data was obtained from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park from January 2018 through December 2022, a five-year period. This data shows that there was one mid-block collision along the 1100 block of Home Avenue during the five-year period. This crash was a hit-and-run that occurred when a northbound driver sideswiped a parked vehicle.
Crashes at the adjacent intersections were also assessed. There were three crashes reported at Home Avenue/Fillmore Street. One of these was a minor (C level) injury crash which resulted because a motorist driving northbound on Home Avenue did not stop at the stop sign and struck a vehicle traveling westbound on Fillmore Street. One property damage only crash was reported at the intersection of Home Avenue/Harvard Street. See Attachment E for the collision diagram.
Crash rates describe the number of crashes in a given period as compared to the traffic volume. These are calculated by dividing the total number of crashes at a given roadway section or intersection over a specified time period (typically three to five years) by a measure of exposure, which for this study is the traffic volume. Comparing the current crash rate to the critical crash rate can help determine how an intersection or roadway section is performing from a safety perspective.
The number of reported crashes that occurred over a five-year period at Home Avenue and Harvard Street is one. The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) entering the intersection of Home Avenue/Harvard Street as determined by the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study was 2,141 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Home Avenue/Harvard Street intersection is 0.256 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 Fillmore Street is three. The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) entering the intersection of Home Avenue/Fillmore Street as determined by the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study was 2,527 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Home Avenue/Fillmore Street intersection is 0.651 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 $6,000 to install the chicanes using paint and post treatments.
Pending Village Board approval, staff recommends including this work as part of the ongoing 23-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets Project in order to construct the improvements in late 2023. There are available funds from savings from other projects in the FY23 Capital Improvement Fund Budget in account # 3095-43780-101-570951 (Public Works - Engineering, Local Street Construction), which would be used to fund this change order for the street resurfacing project.
Public Works staff will purchase and install the delineator posts which will be installed as part of this work. Adeqaute funding exists in the FY23 Budget in account # 1001-43740-761-560634 (Public Works - Street Services, Sign Replacement).
DEI Impact
N/A
Alternatives
The alternative to this recommendation could be to delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
N/A
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
At its September 12, 2023 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted six to zero in favor of the following recommendation for the 1100 block of Home Avenue: Install a paint and post chicane comprised of two 26-foot-long bump outs near the midpoint of the block.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Pending Village Board approval, staff recommends including this work as part of the ongoing 23-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets Project in order to construct the improvements in late 2023. A future amendment to the contract with R.W. Dunteman for Project 23-2, Resurfacing of Various Streets may be required to fund these additional costs.
The paint and post chicanes being recommended along the 1100 block of Home Avenue are planned to be made permanent with concrete curb extensions when this street is planned for resurfacing.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
None at this time.