New or additional stop signs will soon appear at six Waukegan intersections, though three were not recommended after a study by the city’s engineering department and the other three were proposed by City Council members without a review by the city’s professional staff.
The Waukegan City Council voted 6-3 to place new or additional stop signs at six intersections in various parts of the community Monday at City Hall after hearing comments from colleagues representing the areas.
The intersections of 8th Parkway and McAree Road, Elmwood and Lloyd avenues, Genesee Street and Cory Avenue, and Oakley and Gillette avenues, will be four-way stops. Getting three-way stop signs will be the intersections of County and 4th streets, and Buttrick Street and Catalpa Avenue.
There was no indication at the meeting when the signs will be installed.
“Either there was no study done, or studies showed they were not recommended,” Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, said before the council vote. “Some of these are within a block of a light or a main arterial road.”
Mayor Ann Taylor said, “Let me reiterate, these are not recommended by staff. They were ones the aldermen wanted to put in regardless of that.”
Engineering studies were only conducted for the signs at 8th and McAree, Oakley and Gilette, and Elmwood and Lloyd, according to city records.
Ald. Jose A. Guzman, 2nd Ward, pushed for stop signs at 8th and McAree, and Elmwood and Lloyd. He said at a meeting of the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee that despite the negative advice of the engineering department, they were necessary.
With a popular restaurant near Elmwood and Lloyd, Guzman said traffic is heavy and parking is a problem.
“There is a two-way stop and (it is) not recommended for a four-way stop,” he said. “That is totally crazy. The four-way stop is needed in there because traffic is really, really outrageous there. It needs a little bit more control.”
Florian, who said several times at the committee meeting that installing a stop sign does not ensure a motorist will stop, said there is a history of crashes near Elmwood and Lloyd. They do not come from the lack of a four-way stop.
“It says in the report numerous crashes were caused by traffic on Elmwood disregarding or not seeing the stop sign,” Florian said. “Another stop sign there does not seem like it will eliminate the problem.”
Excessive speeding is the reason Guzman wants a four-way stop at 8th and McAree. Currently a two-way stop, he said making it a four-way stop will hopefully reduce the speeding. Florian said the report from the engineering department shows a low crash history.
Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, proposed a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Genesee and Cory, near the Lakeside Tower apartments near downtown Waukegan. Fast driving is an issue there, too.
“When people are coming out of the Lakeside Tower in the summer, it gets really bad, ”Felix said at the committee meeting. “Since there’s no stop, they’re just flooring it over there. I get a lot of complaints. I spoke to the neighbors and they agree.”
Ald. Thomas Hayes, 9th Ward, warned against voting contrary to recommendations from the engineering department. He warned against rushing a vote, rather than waiting potentially three months for a study.
“We may hold ourselves out as experts, but I can assure you none of us are traffic-control experts,” Hayes said. “Staff members advise us on their expertise. I am a little bit stunned we would seek to override an engineer’s recommendation, or have the patience to wait out a study.”
Joining Felix and Guzman in voting for the stop signs were Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, Ald. Juan Martinez, 3rd Ward, Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, and Ald. Michael Donnenwirth, 7th Ward.
Voting against the ordinance were Florian, Hayes and Ald. Edith Newsome, 5th Ward.