Submitted By
Bill McKenna, Village Engineer
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
An Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on the Enforcement of Section 15-1-4 (“Trucks and Buses Prohibited, Locations”) of the Oak Park Village Code to Allow Truck Traffic on Chicago Avenue, Forest Avenue, and Ontario Street until December 31, 2020 in the Village of Oak Park
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Overview
Overview
The Lake Street Water and Sewer Project and Streetscape Project will include closures of portions of Lake Street. Through traffic on Lake Street will be detoured to Chicago Avenue during the projects. Smaller detours will be posted for full road closures in portions of Downtown Oak Park to allow traffic to flow around the closures on Forest Avenue and Ontario Street. The moratorium on enforcement of Section 15-1-4 of the Village Code allows trucks to use these various detour routes which normally do not allow for truck traffic.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Adopt the Ordinance.
Fiscal Impact
There are no costs associated with allowing trucks on Chicago and Forest Avenues and Ontario Street during the construction projects.
Background
The Lake Street improvement projects include closures of portions of Lake Street to allow for construction work to safely and efficiently take place. The posted detour route for through traffic on Lake Street is Chicago Avenue (see attached detour route). Local traffic on Lake Street will be allowed to flow up to the actual road closure segments between Harlem and Forest Avenue or between Grove and Euclid in order to access the Downtown Oak Park (DTOP) and Hemingway business districts. Traffic will be able to flow around the road closure segments in DTOP using Marion Street, North Blvd, Forest Avenue and Ontario Street. All of the detours have been approved by IDOT since they are part of a federally funded project and also since they utilize Harlem and Ridgeland Avenues which are State highways.
Per Village Code Section 15-1-4, trucks are not allowed on Chicago Avenue, Forest Avenue, or Ontario Street. In order to implement the detours and allow for trucks to navigate around the road closures the Village will need to not enforce this code. The moratorium on enforcement of Section 15-1-4 of the Village Code will last until December 31, 2020 or until the posted detours for the Lake Street work are removed, whichever comes first.
Alternatives
The alternative to this recommendation could be to delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
N/A.
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
N/A.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
None at this time.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
The posted detour has been approved by IDOT and coordinated with the Village of River Forest since traffic control devices will be installed in River Forest.