Clarendon Hills is making safety improvements along Chicago Avenue, mainly from the Hinsdale border on the east to Prospect School on the west.
After some residents expressed concerns, the Village held a listening session in April concerning Chicago Avenue speeding, bicycle safety, pedestrian safety, and intersection crashes.
The Public Works director, police chief, village engineer, members of the Village Board, and village manager attended to listen to feedback from residents.
“There have been no speed-related crashes; however, residents in the area did express concerns,” Village Manager Zach Creer said, explaining why the listening session was held and some improvements are being made.
“The Norfolk (Avenue)/Coe (Road)/Chicago (Avenue) intersections have seen a number of crashes, but not the five a year that would typically trigger a reconfiguration,” he said.
Creer said the Village Board approved additional speed details, improved signage/striping, trees, and improved pedestrian crossing into (Hinsdale Golf Club, 140 Chicago Ave., Clarendon Hills). Also approved was the reengineering Coe/Norfolk/Chicago intersection near Notre Dame Parish.
“Striping/signage/trees will occur as it fits into Public Works schedule, but definitely in next few months,” Creer said, adding that the pedestrian crossing into the Golf Club will occur with the Club’s improvements, which currently are starting.
The concerns about Chicago Avenue go back a few years.
In early 2020, the Village Board, after a review and positive recommendation by the Public Services Committee, decided not to move forward with a traffic study on Chicago Avenue and approved flashing speed signs, instead of trying to lower speeds on the street.
At the time, it was decided that the issue could be reconsidered later that year to decide if the speed signs were effective. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put that work on hold.
Creer said a resident asked the Village late last year to look into the issue again while raising some additional concerns about bicycle safety and the intersection at Middaugh Road and Chicago Avenue. Staff have also received complaints about the Norfolk and Chicago Avenues intersection, he said.
Staff met internally, reviewed traffic accidents, and took new speed measurements, Creer said, and also had a preliminary meeting with the village engineer to see if any immediate improvements could be made and to review some of the suggestions made by the resident.
“A preliminary review was that there was nothing that immediately stood out as a guaranteed improvement, though a traffic study could be conducted,” Creer said. “There are well-known ways to engineer traffic calming measures or bike improvements; however, those would usually take place during a major road reconstruction project, and Chicago Avenue, as a concrete road, is designed with a long lifespan and would not be up for major reconstruction for a long time.
“Any other improvements, beyond striping and signage, like a crosswalk reconfiguration or normalizing the Norfolk intersection, would have a large construction cost associated with it.”
Village staff did a safety review and determined that 31 crashes, relating to Chicago Avenue occurred between 2018 and 2024. Of these crashes, nearly 50% were due to failure to yield, and none were attributed to excess speed.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
