Submitted By
Ron Burke, Transportation Commission Chairperson Bill McKenna, Village Engineer/Assistant Public Works Director
Reviewed By
A.M. Zayyad, Deputy Village Manager
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Motion to Concur with the Transportation Commission’s Recommendations for Traffic Calming on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of South Humphrey Avenue
End
Overview
Overview
At the September 9, 2024, Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC reviewed a traffic calming petition for the 1000 and 1100 blocks of S. Humphrey Avenue. The TC voted to concur with the staff recommendations to install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the Humphrey & Harvard intersection,trim parkway trees at the north and east legs of the Humphrey & Harvard intersection, deploy temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis, and targeted police enforcement. The TC additionally recommended mid-block paint and post pinch points on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of South Humphrey Avenue. Pending Board approval, staff would include this work as part of the ongoing Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
End
Recommendation
Recommendation
Adopt the Motion.
Background
On August 30, 2022, the Village of Oak Park received a petition to implement traffic calming measures on the 1000 & 1100 blocks of South Humphrey Avenue. The residents expressed concerns regarding excessive speeds, cut-through traffic across South Humphrey Avenue between Fillmore Street and Garfield Street, and disregard for the stop signs at the S Humphrey/Harvard intersection. Signatures representing 51% of the street frontage were collected for the petition. The petition was certified as valid.
See Attachment A, for a copy of the letter of explanation. See Attachment B, for a copy 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 September 9, 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 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 9, 2024, meeting, the Transportation Commission voted five to zero to:
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the South Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street intersection, extending onto South Humphrey Avenue and Harvard Street (Attachment G)
- Trim trees on the north and east legs of the S Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street intersection
- Deploy temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis
- Target police enforcement near the S Humphrey Avenue and Harvard Street intersection
- Install paint and post pinch points on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of S Humphrey Avenue (Attachment G)
Pending Village Board approval, pavement markings and posts will be installed as part of the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets. The Village’s public works crews will trim the trees.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
Twenty-four-hour traffic data was also collected along the 1000 & 1100 blocks of South Humphrey Avenue, Lyman Avenue, and South Taylor Avenue using pneumatic road tubes. The data was collected on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. One component of the traffic data is Average Daily Traffic (ADT), which is the number of vehicles counted over a 24-hour period. Volumes along South Humphrey Avenue are around 800-900 vehicles per day while volumes on Lyman Avenue and South Taylor Avenue are 700 and 600 vehicles per day respectively. These three north-south streets have similar characteristics, so it is possible that the slightly higher volume of traffic on South Humphrey may be indicative of some non-local drivers using this roadway. The volumes along the 1000 & 1100 block of S Humphrey Avenue are highest between the 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 PM period.
Speed data was another component of the mid-block data collection effort. A review of the 1000 block of South Humphrey Avenue speed data shows a higher than 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 compliance rate of 1100 block of S Humphrey Avenue is higher than 50% and around 90% of the vehicles are traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. There is a variation of 8 miles per hour and 10 miles per hours between the highest and lowest 85th percentile speeds during the day along 1000 & 1100 blocks of S Humphrey Avenue respectively. The highest 85th percentile speeds were recorded at 9:00 AM (30 mph) and the lowest at 7:00 PM (22 mph) along the 1000 block of S Humphrey Avenue.
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment E)
Turning movement data was collected at the South Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street and South Humphrey Avenue/Fillmore Street intersections, six-hour counts were conducted on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 using a 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. The traffic count data shows that the morning peak hour occurs between 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. for both intersections and the evening traffic volume is highest between 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. at South Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street and South Humphrey Avenue/Fillmore Street respectively. The peak hour data indicates no distinct pattern of vehicles turning to travel across the 1000 and 1100 blocks of South Humphrey Avenue, which would indicate high cut-through traffic. Overall, volumes at these intersections are low. See Attachment E for a summary of the results.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment F)
In order to evaluate safety trends on the 1000 & 1100 blocks of South Humphrey Avenue, reported crash data was obtained from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park from July 2019 through June 2024, a five-year period. This data shows that there was one mid-block collision along the 1000 block of South Humphrey and no mid-block collisions along the 1100 block of South Humphrey Avenue during the five-year period. The mid-block collision along the 1000 block of South Humphrey was a parked vehicle collision.
Crashes at the adjacent intersections were also assessed. There were no crashes reported at South Humphrey Avenue/Fillmore Street. There was one crash reported at South Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street. This was an angle collision. No injuries were reported. There are no crash patterns that indicate any issues or adverse safety trends.
Fiscal Impact
Staff estimates that it will cost $23,200 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 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 alternative to this recommendation could be to delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
N/A
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
At the September 9th, 2024 Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC recommended installing paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the South Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street intersection extending onto South Humphrey Avenue and Harvard Street, trimming trees at the north and east legs of the S Humphrey Avenue/Harvard Street intersection, deploying temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis, targeting police enforcement near the S Humphrey Avenue and Harvard Street intersection, and installing paint and post pinch points on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of S Humphrey Avenue. N/A.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
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 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.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A