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 at the Intersection of Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue
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Overview
Overview
At the November 29, 2023, Transportation Commission meeting, the Commission reviewed a traffic calming petition for the intersection of Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue. The Commission recommended installing a two-direction large arrow sign (W1-7) at the north side of Berkshire Street, trimming the spruce tree branches to a height of no less than seven feet from the ground on private property at the northeast corner of the intersection, and installing paint and post treatments to tighten the corner radii of the northeast and southwest corner of the intersection. Pending Board approval, staff would include this work with the ongoing Resurfacing of Various Streets project.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Approve the Motion.
Background
On April 16, 2021, the Village of Oak Park received petitions to implement traffic calming measures at the intersection of Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue respectively. Residents representing 54.57% of the street frontage for the intersection signed the petition and the petition was certified as a valid petition.
Reasons provided for the petition include: The residents expressed concern regarding sight distance and safety issues at the intersection given that there are no stop controls on the north-south Fair Oaks Avenue approaches.
See Attachment A, for a copy of both 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 Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue intersection.
The petition was reviewed by the Transportation Commission at its November 29, 2023 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 staff recommendations. Residents provided public testimony on the items. After hearing the staff’s presentation and public testimony, the Transportation Commission deliberated on the items. Relevant pages from the November 29, 2023, Transportation Commission meeting minutes are included as Attachment H.
At the November 29, 2023 meeting, the Transportation Commission voted four to zero in favor of the following recommendation:
1. Install a two-direction large arrow sign (W1-7) at the north side of Berkshire Street
2. Trim the spruce tree branches to a height of no less than seven feet from the ground on private property at the northeast corner of the intersection
3. Tighten the corner radii of the northeast and southwest corner of the intersection
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 large arrow sign (W1-7). There are available funds in the existing contract with R.W. Dunteman for Project 23-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets to cover the costs for this work.
Analysis Section
Traffic Study - Volume and Speed (Attachment D)
A 48-hour traffic volume count and speed study was conducted mid-block along the four legs of the intersection over a 48-hour period using radar counters on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, and October 20, 2022. See Attachment D for a summary of the results of the study.
Reviewing the 48-hour volumes for the four legs studied; volumes on Berkshire Street, approximately 1,250 vehicles per day, are typical of an Oak Park residential street, which ranges between 800 and 1,200 vehicles per day. Volumes on Fair Oaks Avenue are around 550 vehicles per day which is somewhat less than those on typical Oak Park residential streets.
A review of the Berkshire Street speed data shows a greater than 75% compliance rate with the 25 mph speed limit and that more than 95% of the vehicles are traveling less than 5 mph over the speed limit. This suggests that a majority of the vehicles on Berkshire Street are operating close to the speed limit. This is likely because the proximity of stop signs to the east and west are moderating speeds near Fair Oaks Avenue.
Speeds on Fair Oaks are slightly higher with 29% and 30% of vehicles exceeding the 25 mph limit on the north leg northbound and southbound respectively while 40% of northbound and 37% southbound vehicles are exceeding the 25 mph limit on the south leg. This is likely due to the longer distance to the nearest stop signs to the south at Division and to the north at Greenfield.
The speed profiles on both Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue are fairly typical for residential streets in Oak Park. 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 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Traffic Study - Turning Movement Counts (Attachment E)
Turning movement data was collected on September 20th, 2023 (Wednesday) using a Miovision Scout video camera system at the intersection of Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks 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 80 degrees. See Attachment E for a summary of the results.
Crash History - Collision Diagrams (Attachment F)
In order to evaluate safety trends at the Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue intersection, reported crash data was obtained from the IDOT Safety Portal and the Village of Oak Park from September 2018 through August 2023, a five-year period. This data shows that there was no intersection-related collision during the five-year period.
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 Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue is zero. The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) for the intersection of Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue as determined by the Villages’ 1997 area-wide traffic study was 1,649 vehicles. Using this data, the crash rate for the Berkshire Street and Fair Oaks Avenue intersection is 0.00 accidents per million entering vehicles (Acc/MEV). This crash rate is below the critical crash rate calculated for the north section of the Village (from Augusta to North Avenue between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard) as determined in the area-wide traffic study of 1997 (0.686 Acc/MEV).
Fiscal Impact
Staff estimates that it will cost $15,000 to install a two-direction large-arrow sign (W1-7) at the north side of Berkshire Street and the pavement markings and delineator posts to tighten the corner radii of the northeast and southwest corners of the intersection.
Pending Village Board approval, staff will include this work as part of the ongoing 23-2 Resurfacing of Various Streets Project in order to construct the improvements in early 2024. The 23-2 Resurfacing project is currently under the contract amount from savings on various items and there are available funds in this contract to cover these costs.
Public Works staff will purchase and install the large arrow sign (W1-7). There are funds for the signage in the FY24 Budget in account # 1001-43740-761-560634 (General Fund, 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 November 29, 2023 meeting, the Transportation Commission recommended the following:
1. Install a two-direction large arrow sign (W1-7) at the north side of Berkshire Street
2. Trim the spruce tree branches to a height of no less than seven feet from the ground on private property at the northeast corner of the intersection
3. Tighten the corner radii of the northeast and southwest corner of the intersection
The motion passed four to zero.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
None at this time.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A