Submitted By
Ron Burke, Transportation Commission Chairperson Bill McKenna, Village Engineer
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 1150 Blocks of South Euclid and Wesley, Upgrading from Two-Way to Four-Way Stops at the Intersections of Fillmore with Euclid and Wesley, and Establishing a 20 Mile Per Hour Park Speed Zone Adjacent to Euclid Square Park, and Direct Staff to Prepare the Necessary Ordinances
End
Overview
Overview
At the March 14th Transportation Commission (TC) meeting, the TC reviewed a petition from the 1150 blocks of S. Euclid and S. Wesley for traffic calming to address speeds on their block as well as for improving safety at the intersections of Euclid and Wesley with Fillmore. These blocks border Euclid Square Park. The TC recommended installing bump outs at all legs of the Fillmore intersections with Euclid and with Wesley to improve pedestrian safety and slow traffic, upgrading to 4-way stops at these two intersections, upgrading pavement markings to continental crosswalks at all legs of these intersections, and hatching out no parking areas beyond the stop signs, installing speed bumps on the 1150 blocks of Wesley and Euclid, and establishing a 20 mile per hour park speed zone adjacent to the park.
End
Recommendation
Recommendation
Adopt the Motion.
Body
Staff Recommendation
Approve the Motion.
Fiscal Impact
Staff estimates it will cost approximately $75,000 to install the bump outs and speed bumps. The FY2023 Budget only includes $55,000 in the Capitol Improvement Fund, Public Works - Engineering, Traffic Calming Improvements, account no. 3095-43780-101-570955.
Pending Village Board concurrence, staff will prepare a Budget Amendment for the upcoming second quarter Budget Amendment to transfer the approximate $75,000 from savings in the Capital Improvement Fund, Public Works - Engineering, Local Street Construction account no. 3095.43780.101.570951 to the Capital Improvement Fund for Traffic Calming Improvements account no. 3095.43780.101.570955 to fund this work. The actual costs and dollar amount for the Budget Amendment will be determined following the bidding of the upcoming street resurfacing project.
Staff estimates it will cost less than $1,000 to install Stop signs, park speed zone signs, and pavement markings on these blocks. The FY23 Budget includes funds for this work in the General Fund, Public Works - Street Services, account no. 1001-43740-761-560634.
Background
On August 27, 2019, residents submitted traffic calming petitions and letters of explanation for the intersections of Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street and Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street. Residents representing 63.08% of the street frontage for the intersection of Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street signed the petition. The petition was certified as a valid petition. Residents representing 71.46% of the street frontage for the intersection of Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street signed the petition. The petition was certified as a valid petition.
Reasons provided for the Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street petition include: pedestrian safety as Euclid Square Park has become a popular playground; and concern about excessive vehicle speeds and volumes as commuters use the intersection as a bypass to Roosevelt Road & Oak Park Avenue.
Reasons provided for the Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street petition include: renovations to Euclid Square Park have increased use by seniors and children in the area; rushing and distracted commuter traffic use the residential blocks to bypass Roosevelt Road and Oak Park Avenue, cars are parked to the intersections obstructing sightlines.
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 this petition.
The petition was reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its March 14, 2023 meeting. Staff gave a presentation on the issues including: background on the petition, history of the area, analysis of the collected traffic data, and collision diagrams. The organizers of the petitions provided public testimony on the item. After hearing Staff’s presentation and public testimony, the Transportation Commission deliberated on the item. Approved minutes for the March 14, 2023, Transportation Commission meeting are included as Attachment G.
At the March 14, 2023 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted four to zero in favor of the following recommendations for the intersections of Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street and Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street: 1) install bump outs at all corners of both intersections, 2) upgrading both intersections from 2-way to all-way STOP signs, 3) upgrading pavement markings to continental crosswalks at all legs of these intersections and hatching out no parking area beyond the STOP signs, 4) installing speed bumps on the 1150 blocks of South Euclid and Wesley Avenues, and 5) establishing a 20 mile per hour park speed zone adjacent to the park. An exhibit showing these proposed improvements is attached for reference.
Pending Village Board concurrence on these recommendations and associated Ordinances, staff will install the stop signs, pavement markings, and park speed zone signage. Staff will incorporate the designs of the bump outs and speed bumps in the proposed 23-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets project which is currently being designed and is intended to be bid on in late spring with an anticipated construction contract being presented to the Village Board for consideration in late June or early July. The costs for the pinch points and bump-outs are estimated at $75,000. Final costs will be determined when the Village receives bids for the project. Staff anticipates presenting a future budget amendment to transfer funds from savings in other street resurfacing projects to the Capital Improvement Fund account for Traffic Calming Improvements once actual low-bid prices are determined.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment C)
A directional twenty-four-hour traffic volume and speed study was conducted on Thursday, November 10, 2022, for the 1100 & 1150 blocks of South Euclid Avenue & Wesley Avenue and 830, 333 & 900 blocks of Fillmore Street. See Attachment C for a summary of the results of the study.
Reviewing the 24-hour volumes for all north-south blocks studied, the two-way average daily traffic (ADT) ranged from a low of 342 vehicles on the 1100 block of Wesley Avenue to a high of 562 vehicles on the 1150 block of South Euclid Avenue. The volumes for these blocks fall below the 800 to 1,200 vehicle range for the typical daily volume on residential blocks within the Village of Oak Park. Volumes on the Fillmore Street blocks range from 1,292 vehicles to 1,382 vehicles. While these volumes are slightly above the high end for a typical residential street, this is due to the proximity to Roosevelt Road, being next to Euclid Square Park; and because there are fewer east-west streets than north-south streets in the Village. As a result, east-west streets service more vehicles on average than north-south streets. Based on the collected traffic data, it does not appear there is an excessive volume of vehicles traveling on the petitioning blocks.
Regarding vehicular speeds, it is an accepted traffic engineering practice to set the speed limit to the 5 mile per hour (mph) increment above or below the 85th percentile speed. Village Staff holds the opinion that the majority of drivers will drive at or near the posted speed limit. In addition, it is an accepted fact that the speed indicated on speedometers can vary up to 2 percent above or below the actual speed of the vehicle.
By definition, the 85th percentile speed is the speed at which 85 percent of the vehicles are traveling at or less than. Conversely, 15 percent of the vehicles will be traveling faster than the 85th percentile speed. It has already been stated that speed limits are typically set to the 5 mph increment above or below the 85th percentile speed. This implies that it is expected that approximately 15 percent of vehicles will be traveling faster than the speed limit, if the speed limit is in the 5 mph increment below the 85th percentile speed.
Next is the review of the vehicle speed data from the traffic study for the Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street and Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street intersections. The 85th percentile speeds for the Fillmore blocks ranged between 24.7 mph and 27.3 mph. As previously mentioned, it’s expected that the majority of motorists will drive at or close to the speed limit and that speeds indicated on speedometers can vary above or below the actual speed of the vehicle. Consequently, the 85th percentile speeds on Fillmore Street is what staff considers consistent with the 25-mph speed limit.
The 85th percentile speeds on the 1100 and 1150 blocks of South Euclid Avenue and Wesley Avenue ranged between 26.5 mph and 29.8 mph. The 85th percentile speeds calculated on the Euclid and Wesley blocks in this traffic study is what staff would consider slightly elevated when compared to the 25-mph speed limit. While elevated speeds are a concern on any street, it is especially so on blocks that are directly adjacent to a popular park where many people and families walk to play a game of pickleball or soccer or just socialize.
Based on the traffic study, there appears to be a modest speeding issue on the 1100 and 1150 blocks of South Euclid and Wesley Avenues.
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment D)
Turning movement data was collected on Thursday, November 10, 2022, and Saturday, November 12, 2022, for the AM and PM peak hours as well as the afternoon (see Attachment D). The time periods studied were based on conversations with petition organizers and residents which stated the park remains busy until dusk. Weekend data was collected for the same reason.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment E)
Forty-eight months of vehicle crash reports covering the period of March 1, 2019, through February 28, 2023, were reviewed for the intersections of Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street and Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street. Please see Attachment E for the collision diagrams.
The number of reported crashes that occurred at the Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street intersection for the forty-eight months that ended February 28, 2023, totaled one. It was a right-angle collision occurring in 2021. The average daily traffic (ADT) for the intersection as determined as part of the Village’s 1997 area-wide traffic study was 2,612 vehicles. From this data, the 2023 crash rate for the Euclid Avenue & Fillmore Street intersection is calculated to be 0.262 accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV).
This crash rate is below the critical crash rate calculated for the south section of the Village (from Roosevelt Road to I-290 between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard) as determined in the area-wide traffic study of 1997 (0.945 Acc/MEV). If an actual crash rate exceeds the critical crash rate, then it is highly probable that the accidents were caused by factors other than chance.
The number of reported crashes that occurred at the intersection of Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street for the same time period totaled two crashes. One crash was a vehicle hitting a parked car while the other crash was an injury accident where a car struck a child crossing the street. The ADT for the Wesley Avenue & Fillmore Street intersection as determined as part of the 1997 traffic study was 2,265 vehicles. The 2023 crash rate for this intersection is calculated to be 0.605 Acc/MEV which is also lower than the critical crash rate of 0.945 Acc/MEV. While the crash rates for both intersections are below the critical crash rate which typically indicates there is not an issue with vehicle crashes; there is concern regarding the injury crash involving a pedestrian.
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 March 14, 2023 meeting, the Transportation Commission recommended the following:
1. Install bump outs at all corners of both intersections,
2. Upgrading both intersections from 2-way to all-way STOP signs,
3. Upgrading pavement markings to continental crosswalks at all legs of these intersections and hatching out no parking area beyond the STOP signs,
4. Installing speed bumps on the 1150 blocks of South Euclid and Wesley Avenues, and
5. Establishing a 20-mile-per-hour park speed zone adjacent to the park.
The motion passed four to zero.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
There are separate agenda items at tonight’s meeting for Ordinances to establish all way Stops at the Fillmore intersections with Euclid and Wesley and for the adoption of a 20 mile per hour Park Speed Zone on the 1150 blocks of South Euclid and Wesley and Fillmore between Euclid and Wesley.
Pending Village Board concurrence on this Motion, staff will prepare a Budget Amendment for the upcoming second quarter Budget Amendment to transfer funds from savings in the Capital Improvement Fund, Public Works - Engineering, Local Street Construction account no. 3095.43780.101.570951 to the Capital Improvement Fund for Traffic Calming Improvements account no. 3095.43780.101.570955 to fund this work.
Pending Village Board concurrence, staff will include the construction of the bump outs, speed bumps, and pavement markings as part of the 2023 Resurfacing of Various Street project which is currently being designed. Staff anticipates presenting a contract for the construction of this project to the Village Board in July of this year.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
None at this time.