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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/10/2000 SC MinutesD ^_etor Sc:.... Sup•nn; <',•.dLr. � MAINTAIN - - Deputy Director S -eats Buildings Supern'tende -- Village Engineer Fc Grounds Supenntende-- - �_ G '�ti„Ibeckar O - - tio M Carl O J� Sold Waste Coordinator 1' �41 Ve =1e /Equipment Supenntende -- M Lisa 4ngell �p 4iC2 .,� =_s E F Q� Mount Prospect Public Works Department 1 700 W. Central Road, Mount Prospect, II' nois 60056 -2220 Phone B47/B70 -5640 Fax B47/253 -9077 TDD B47/392 -1 200 CALL TO ORDER The Re Meeting of the Mount Prospect Safety Commission % as called to order at 7:30 P.M. on Monday. Jule 10, 2000. `IINUTES OF THE MOUNT PROSPECT SAFETY COMMISSION DRAFT ROLL CALL Present upon rol call Lee Beening Chuck Bencic Joan Bjork Nancy Bobikewicz Andy Mitchell Phyllis Moliere Scott Sullivant Paul Bures Matt Lawrie Chairman Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Police Department Public Works Public Works/Engineering Division Absent: Buz Livingston Others in Attendance: Jeff Wulbecker APPROVAL OF MINUTES Fire Department Village Engineer Commissioner Mitchell, seconded by Commissioner Moliere, moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Safety Commission held on March 13, 2000. The minutes were approved by a vote of 7 -0. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD No citizens came forth at this time to discuss any topics that were not on the current agenda. OLD BUSINESS No old business was discussed. 1 NEW BUSINE A) 1) 2) TRAFFIC CALMING PRESENTATION Background Information For many people who work for a local government, one of the biggest complaints heard by residents is traffic. One major complaint is the congestion on major roads and the frustration that comes with trying to get from one location to another. Another complaint is the amount of vehicles and the speed at which they travel on minor roads. Residents often express the concern for safety of pedestrians and the lack of respect motorists often display when travelling in residential neighborhoods. For many years, communities have had to deal with these issues. Local governments have now begun to develop programs and create specific projects to provide solutions to these traffic complaints. The term "traffic calming" has been coined by engineers and planners as the subject that addresses some of these vehicle amount and speed issues in communities, primarily residential neighborhoods. On May 23, 2000, the subject of traffic calming was presented to the Village Board at a Committee -of- the -Whole Meeting. Their recommendation %vas for the Safety Commission to review the material provided below. The Village Board would like to know the Safety Commission's opinion of what traffic calming measures, if any, may be appropriate for the Village to consider. Also, the Village Board would like the Safery Commission to identify 10 locations in the Village «here a traffic volume and'or speed prob'.-m exists and a traffic calming project could provide a positive effect. It is the Village Board's hope that one project can be created and implemented by the end of 2000. Refer to the June 30, 2000 memo to the Safety Commission for detailed information on traffic calming. Discussion Traffic Engineer Lawrie spent approximately 20 minutes presenting the information found in the packet each Safety Commission member previously received. The different types of measures including speed calming (traffic circles, chicanes, choke points, speed humps, raised crosswalks), volume reduction (diverters, median barriers, cul -de -sacs, signs) and pedestrian safety (curb extensions, pedestrian refuges) measures were all discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of each of these measures were presented. r A few questions were asked by Safety Commissioner members during the presentation. After the presentation, the topic of liability was brought up. It was recommended by Commissioner Beening to have the Village Attorney revieNv any proposal before being implemented. Commissioner Beening also recommended getting the residents involved in the process. Traffic Engineer Lawrie pointed out that public involvement was an important part when considering any type of traffic calming project. A discussion on selective speed enforcement ensued. Officer Sullivant explained that a police presence can be an effective way of slowing down motorists. 2 Traffic Engineer Lawrie suggested that before implementing and project, temporary use of cones or barricades simulating traffic calming measures can be used to test their effectiveness. hlr. Bures concurred and also pointed out some concerns with street sweeping and snow plowing and how these operations are affected by traffic calming measures. Commissioner Bobikewicz asked what criteria would be necessary in order to warrant traffic calming measures. Traffic Engineer Lawrie could not answer the question at the time. The focus of the meeting was to discuss the specific measures and identify problem locations in the Village. In the future, the Village would have to look at determining criteria. A discussion on speed humps ensued. The geometries and material of the speed humps were discussed. Traffic Engineer Lawrie presented 11 locations in the Village that Staff is aware of that could potentially be good candidates for a traffic calming project. These were determined from past resident complaints or problems identified by Village Staff. The locations discussed were: 1. See -Gwen Avenue near the Mount Prospect Golf Course 2. Shabonee Trail between Route 83 and Emerson Street 3. Council Trail near Lions Park Elementary School 4. Highland Street between Forest Avenue and Route 83 �. Busse Avenue bet`veen «'e -Go Trail and Elmhurst Avenue 6. Emerson Street between Prospect Avenue and Counm Lane 7. Columbine Drive between Camp McDonald Road and Cree Lane 8. Fairview Avenue between Northwest Highway and Kensington Road 9. Isabella Street between Rand Road and Route 83 10. Wheeling Road between Kensington Road and Euclid Avenue 11. Albert Street between Central Road and Northwest Highway Commissioner Bencic wanted to hear suggestions of what measures could be used at these locations. Traffic Engineer Lawrie said that Staff identified 2 of the locations as potential areas to study. Along Council Trail, the concern was pedestrian safety. Curb extensions could possibly be used to improve safety. Along See -Gwun Avenue, a combination of curb extensions and traffic circles could be used to slow down traffic and improve pedestrian safety by the golf course. The Commission members discussed what information would be gathered as part of the studies and the temporary measures to simulate the permanent traffic calming measures. The Commission members seemed to agree with Staff that speed humps would not be a beneficial measure to implement but rather would like to focus on measures such as curb extensions, traffic circles and chicanes to control speed. Volume reduction measures such as diverters were also discouraged as it seemed the problem may only be shifted to an adjacent street. Mr. Bures, seconded by Commissioner Bencic, moved to approve studying the following locations to determine whether they are good candidates for a traffic calming project. • See -Gwun Avenue near the Mount Prospect Golf Course • Council Trail near Lions Park Elementary School The motion was approved by a vote of 8 -0. Results of the studies are requested to be presented to the Safety Commission within 30 days. B) STICKERS AFFIXED TO FOLDED STOP SIGNS 1) Background Information Many surrounding communities have begun to affix community- related stickers to folded Stop signs. Can the Village affix similar stickers to Stop signs in our community? As a bit of background, according to Staff, IDOT does not approve of such stickers on Stop signs. The} do not want motorists distracted by taking their eyes off the road. With the support of the Village Board, "Shop Mount Prospect" stickers were affixed to the folded Stop signs in the downtown area last year. However, since the start of the Route 83 Reconstruction Project, the signs have been temporarily removed. Upon completion of the project, the signs will be replaced. The Village has approximately 200 folded Stop signs at some 50 intersections. Each year approximately 20 Stop signs are replaced. Beginning last year, stickers are being affixed to the new signs. Stickers are not currently being affixed to existing signs because the decay of the signs and oil on them makes it difficult for the stickers to adhere to the signs. 2) Discussion Commissioner Beening would like to see safety messages affixed to the folded Stop signs in addition to the "Shop Mount Prospect" stickers. Mr. Bures said that the Stop signs are maintained by the Village but IDOT does not want to see stickers on them as the roads are under their jurisdiction. Commissioner Bjork believes the stickers can be difficult to read and can clutter the area. She would rather see the folded Stop signs free of any stickers. Commissioner Beening intended for the stickers to make motorists more aware of current laws. No further discussion took place on this issue. C) REVIEW OF THE VILLAGE CODE RELATED TO THE SAFETY COMMISSION 1) Background Information Chapter 5, Article X of the Village Code describes the purpose and duties of the Safety Commission. Commissioner Beening requested that the Safety Commission members review this section of the Village Code. 2) Discussion Commissioner Beening thought it would a good idea to revisit the responsibilities of the Safety Commission. A section of the Article says that one of the duties is to handle health - related issues. None of the members can recall ever having to review such an issue. Traffic Engineer Lawrie pointed out that this issue has already been raised to the Village Manager. The Village Attorney and Board of Trustees have begun reviewing the responsibilities of each of the commissions and changes could be made in the future. 4 Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker said that ordinances are already in place that would cause any type of health- related complaint to be filtered to the appropriate department to be addressed immediately. Only any policy changes as to how health - related issues are dealt with may come to the Safety Commission. However. this responsibility may be reassigned once the Village has completed its review of all the commissions. No further discussion took place on this issue. D) REVIEW OF TRAFFIC - RELATED REQUESTS SUMMARY SHEET 1) Background Information Each month a spreadsheet showing recent traffic- related requests in the Village are distributed to the Village Board and Safety Commission members. Commissioner Beening requested the Safety Commission members to review the spreadsheet. 2) Discussion Traffic Engineer Lawrie explained that the requests come from residents as well as Village Staff. The Safety Commission members briefly discussed some of the c .;Trent issues. No further discussion took place on this issue. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the Safety Commission voted 8 -0 to adjourn at 9:15 p.m. upon the motion of Commissioner Mitchell. Commissioner Bencic seconded the motion. Respectfully submitted, n Matthew P. Lawrie, P.E. Traffic Engineer Ofi les \engineer\safecomm \traffic\recs &min \j ulyNmin.doc 5