By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
One road that’s too tight and others where trucks cut through neighborhoods to avoid some intersections are among changes to the Elgin Municipal Code the City Council will consider Wednesday night.
Tennyson Court, which connects Division Street on the south with North Street on Elgin’s East Side, is only 18 feet wide, according to Elgin Management Analyst Aaron Cosentino. As a result, it is difficult for fire trucks to access the roadway when vehicles are parked. Parking along the narrow roadway also can create difficulties with leaf collection and snowplowing in the winter months, as well as with blocked driveways, he said, even though parking is prohibited on the west side of the street.
Consequently, the city staff is recommending that a six-month trial parking restriction during daytime, weekday hours and reversing the one-way travel allowed on the street. The trial will cost the city $500 in new traffic signs for the area.
The changes were requested by the Elgin Public Works Department.
Cosentino said the reversal of the one-way travel is geared primarily to benefit the Elgin Fire Department. Access to Tennyson now is from North Street, and that is a particularly tight intersection for a fire truck to negotiate. Reversing the one-way travel on the street, he said, would allow fire trucks a better ability to turn onto Tennyson from Division Street. The fire department responded seven times in 2011 to calls for emergency medical service along Tennyson.
According to the staff memo to the City Council, Tennyson Court has 11 multifamily buildings consisting of 29 apartments and one single-family home.
According to the memo, it originally was recommended to restrict parking on the street entirely to provide the best solution to all issues on the street, but at a neighborhood meeting, two property owners representing four buildings, objected. They argued that eliminating parking would be detrimental to their tenants and their ability to attract renters.
Instead, the city is recommending:
- Restricting parking from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, Monday through Friday;
- Reversing the south one-way direction to north, requiring vehicle access from Division Street instead of North Street.
- Restricting parking directly across from the entrance to Tennyson on Division to allow for a consistently clear access point for emergency vehicles.
- Alerting residents of Tennyson Court to parking regulations that restrict parking within three feet of residential driveways and 20 feet from intersections.
After six months, the city will evaluate the trial changes.
Load limit to target cut-through traffic by trucks
In another traffic-related concern, the City Council will be asked to impose vehicle load weight limits of 8,000 pounds in two areas of town, again on a six-month trial basis, in an effort to cut down “cut-through” truck traffic on residential streets. The cost of the trial is estimated at $1,000 for new traffic signs.
Cosentino said the city’s received a number of reports from residents of the two neighborhoods who complained of cut-through traffic. One neighborhood is east of Liberty Street, the other is east of McLean Boulevard and north of Big Timber Road.
In meeting with residents, the city learned trucks westbound on Chicago Street turn on Bode Road and continue to Linden or Forest Avenue before connect to Liberty Street. According to the staff memo to the council, trucks southbound on Liberty also may use the residential streets to connect to Chicago Street.
The weight restrictions would apply to Grand Avenue, Franklin Boulevard, Addison Street, Park Street, Lillie Street, Forest Avenue from Liberty Street to Grand Boulevard and Linden Avenue from Liberty to Bode Road.
Because complaints in the neighborhood also encompassed truck speeds and truck noise on Liberty, the staff is recommending the weight limits on a trial basis to determine whether they actually have an impact on the area.
Residents of Century Oaks East also outline cut-through truck traffic concerns during a meeting with city staff, saying trucks were using residential streets east of McLean Boulevard and north of Big Timber.
The same weight restrictions would be imposed in this area, again on a six-month trial basis. The staff memo notes the truck traffic may have been a result of recent construction activities that restricted traffic on North McLean.
The most recent weight restriction adopted by the city council was for Clifford Avenue, Owasco Avenue and Steele Street from Frazier Avenue to Jerusha Avenue. This was done in an effort to eliminate truck traffic on residential streets and encourage the use of the recently lowered Frazier Avenue.
