Submitted By
Ron Burke, Transportation Commission Chairperson Bill McKenna, Assistant Public Works Director/Village Engineer
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 on the 900 and 1000 Blocks of N. Humphrey Avenue and at the Intersection of Berkshire Street with N. Humphrey Avenue
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Overview
Overview
At the February 12, 2024, Transportation Commission meeting, the Commission reviewed traffic calming petitions for the 900 block of N. Humphrey Avenue, the 1000 block of N. Humphrey Avenue, and the intersection of Berkshire Street with N. Humphrey Avenue. These petitions expressed concerns regarding excessive speeds, cut-through traffic on Humphrey Avenue, and non-compliance with stop signs. The Commission recommended installing paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the two intersections of Berkshire Street and Greenfield Street with N. Humphrey Ave.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Adopt the Motion.
Background
On October 6, 2020, and January 29, 2021, the Village of Oak Park received petitions to implement traffic calming measures on the 900 block of N. Humphrey Avenue, 1000 block of N. Humphrey Avenue, and at the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue. Due to their proximity, the petitions for traffic calming devices were reviewed together by the Transportation Commission.
Reasons provided for the petitions include resident concern regarding non-compliance of stop controls at the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue and speeding and cut-through traffic along Humphrey Avenue.
See Attachment A, for a copy of the letters 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 image of the area encompassing the petitions.
The petitions were reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its January 8, 2024 meeting. Staff gave a presentation on the issues including background of the petitions, 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 on additional options to address elevated speeds. Ultimately, the item was tabled as the Commission requested Civiltech and Village staff to return with additional traffic calming options for the petitions. Relevant pages from the January 8, 2024, Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment H.
Staff brought the item back to the Transportation Commission at its February 12, 2024 meeting. At that meeting, staff presented recommendations of paint and post curb extensions at the intersections along the 900 and 1000 Block of N. Humphrey Avenue (Attachment G). Relevant pages from the February 12, 2024, Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment I.
At the February 12, 2024 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted four to zero in favor of the following recommendation:
1. On the 900 Block of N. Humphrey Avenue -
- Deploy temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis to increase drivers’ awareness of their speeds
- Targeted enforcement along this block as needed to reduce speeding
2. On the 1000 Block of N. Humphrey Avenue -
- Deploy temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis to increase drivers’ awareness of their speeds
- Targeted enforcement along this block as needed to reduce speeding
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of Greenfield Street and Humphrey Avenue intersection, extending onto N Humphrey Avenue and Greenfield Street
3. At the Intersection of Berkshire Street/N. Humphrey Avenue -
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the Berkshire Street and Humphrey Avenue intersection, extending onto N. Humphrey Avenue and Berkshire Street
Pending Village Board approval, pavement markings will be installed as part of the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project, and Public Works staff will purchase and install the posts.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
Twenty-four-hour two-way midblock traffic data was collected using tube counters on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, to analyze various blocks in the northeast section of the Village. See Attachment D for a summary of the results of the study.
Reviewing the volume data; volumes on Humphrey Avenue blocks between Division Street and Greenfield Street of 400 to 500 vehicles per day are somewhat lower than those on a typical Oak Park street, which range between 800 and 1,200 vehicles per day. With volumes ranging between 750 and 1,200 vehicles per day, volumes along Berkshire Street blocks are typical of Oak Park streets. Greenfield Street blocks have a volume between 700 and 1050 vehicles per day, again which is fairly typical. Hayes Avenue blocks have volumes between 250 and 500 vehicles per day, which are lower than those on a typical Oak Park street. Taylor Avenue blocks have volume between 400 and 650 vehicles per day, which is lower than those on a typical Oak Park street.
A review of the 900 block of N. Humphrey Avenue speed data shows a compliance rate of close to 81% with the 25-mph speed limit with around 95% of the vehicles traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. The 1000 block of N. Humphrey Avenue speed data shows a compliance rate of close to 71% with the 25-mph speed limit with around 93% of the vehicles traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. Berkshire Street operates at low speeds west and east of Humphrey Avenue. The 85th percentile speed is 25 mph west of N. Humphrey Avenue and lower than 25 mph east of N. Humphrey Avenue. This signifies that the majority of the vehicles are not exceeding the posted speed limit.
The speed profile on the 900 and 1000 blocks of N. Humphrey Avenue and on the blocks of 1 Berkshire Street (east of N. Humphrey Avenue) and 29 Berkshire Street (west of N. Humphrey Avenue) are typical for residential streets at Oak Park and is, in fact, lower than the speeds of other streets with similar characteristics within the study area. As is the case for 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 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on both 900 and 1000 block of N Humphrey Avenue.
The traffic data shows that speeding is not significantly elevated on the 900 and 1000 blocks of N. Humphrey Avenue. The 85th percentile speeds for both petitioned blocks are 27 mph and 28 mph, which are close to the posted 25 mph speed limit and lower than the 85th percentile speeds observed on blocks to the west that have similar characteristics.
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment E)
Turning movement data was collected on September 13, 2023 (Wednesday), using Miovision Scout video cameras at the intersections of Greenfield Street/Hayes Avenue, Greenfield Street/Taylor Avenue, Greenfield Street/Humphrey Avenue, Berkshire Street/Hayes Avenue, Berkshire Street/Taylor Avenue, and Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue. Counts were conducted from 7-9 a.m. and 2-6 p.m. The traffic data was collected on a weekday with typical traffic patterns and while school was in session. Weather during the counts was conducive to bicycle and pedestrian activity as it was dry with a high temperature near 70 degrees. See Attachment E for a summary of the results.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment F)
In order to evaluate safety trends on the 900 and 1000 blocks of N. Humphrey Avenue and at the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue, reported crash data was obtained from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park for the five-year period between September 2018 and August 2023. This data shows that there were no mid-block collisions along the 900 and 1000 block of N. Humphrey Avenue during the five-year period. There were two crashes at the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue. A collision diagram for the northeast section of the Village can be found in Exhibit 5A and a table summarizing crash statistics is provided in Exhibit 5B.
The two crashes at the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue were a left turn crash and a parked vehicle crash. Neither crash resulted in an injury.
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 the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue is two. The ADT for the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue as determined by the Villages’ 1997 area-wide traffic study was 1,325 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the intersection of Berkshire Street/Humphrey Avenue intersection is 0.827 accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV). This crash rate is above the critical crash rate calculated for the north section of the Village (from Augusta Street to North Avenue between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard) as determined in the area-wide traffic study of 1997 (0.686 Acc/MEV). However, excluding the parked car crash (which is not considered to be correctable), the crash rate (0.414 Acc/MEV) is lower than the critical crash rate (0.686 Acc/MEV).
Fiscal Impact
Staff estimates that it will cost approximately $20,000 to install the pavement markings and delineator posts for curb extensions at the intersections of Berkshire Street/N. Humphrey Avenue and Greenfield Street/N. Humphrey Avenue. Pending Village Board approval, staff will include this work as part of the 24-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets Project in order to construct the improvements in 2024.
There are available funds in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Budget for this work. The FY24 Budget includes $250,000 for traffic calming improvements in the Capital Improvement Fund, Public Work-Engineering, Traffic Calming Improvements account no. 3095.43780.101.570955.
DEI Impact
N/A
Alternatives
The Board could delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
N/A
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
At its February 12, 2024 meeting, the Transportation Commission recommended the following:
1. On the 900 Block of N. Humphrey Avenue -
- Deploy temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis to increase drivers’ awareness of their speeds
- Targeted enforcement along this block as needed to reduce speeding
2. On the 1000 Block of N. Humphrey Avenue -
- Deploy temporary radar speed feedback signs on an interim basis to increase drivers’ awareness of their speeds
- Targeted enforcement along this block as needed to reduce speeding
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of Greenfield Street and Humphrey Avenue intersection, extending onto N. Humphrey Avenue and Greenfield Street
3. At the Intersection of Berkshire Street/N. Humphrey Avenue -
- Install paint and post curb extensions on all four corners of the Berkshire Street and Humphrey Avenue intersection, extending onto N. Humphrey Avenue and Berkshire Street
The motion passed four to zero.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
None at this time.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A