West Cook News

The Elmhurst City Council discussed large-scale potential changes to city intersections during its March 6 meeting.

The city is currently undergoing a pilot traffic program in the College View neighborhood to improve traffic safety and create a more consistent flow of traffic. Elmhurst officials want to change how they handle residential intersections, a decision set to be made city-wide as they seek to broaden the traffic study's results.

Officials found that more than 200 of Elmhurst's 711 residential intersections have no stop or yield signs, and many of those intersections have existed as such since they were established, operating on an understood basis by residents. Many of them are also T-intersections, with one road having the right of way and the other being a residential access or dead-end drive. Officials recommended that all of the aforementioned intersections have directional signage installed to reduce the risk of a collision. 

The program also found that 110 of the city's residential intersections are controlled by yield signs, which are only used infrequently and are not always advisable. Officials recommended that these intersections have their yield signs replaced with stop signs to increase driver safety and caution.

"Surrounding communities made this change years ago," said Alderman Marti Deuter, "and our analysis of a handful of intersections in the city, when staff looked at where in the city we had made the change from a yield sign to a stop sign, and in those cases, the accident history went from multiple, I think averaging three or four, down to zero in the years since it was done. Pretty powerful information that supports this change. These changes are intended to increase safety and decrease accidents by increasing consistency, reducing confusion, and proactively accounting for obstructions that decrease sightlines in residential areas, things like landscaping, parked cars, and delivery trucks."

Council voted in favor of making an amendment to the report stating that the city would continue to follow the guidance of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which they have already done for years. The amendment will also allow engineering input and decision-making for specific intersections if each situation calls for them. Council approved the report and the future changes made to the intersections, voicing their concern for young drivers and visitors unfamiliar with Elmhurst streets.