Village of Lombard Legistar System

Soderstrom: reviewed the memo by Tom Bayer. Various trustees at several board

meetings expressed an interest in lowering the speed limit to 25mph through out town.

Johnson: called the state and got their input on this also. If you have an area where

everything is the same (ie, houses, drives, etc.) we could do a survey of that subdivision

or those blocks and then lower speed limit if warranted. Kuehl: like a trustee's district?

Johnson: no, there are too many variables in that large of an area. Lepins: cannot do

the whole town, carte blanche. We need to address certain areas. Pool: need to post

every 1200 feet, correct? Johnson: yes. Pool: what is the cost? Johnson: approx.

40-60,000$ just for signage and that needs to be replaced every 10 years. Pool: why

did the state go up to 30 mph in the first place? Cuny: gathering information on this for

next meeting. For every 5 miles speed limit is reduced, the average drop in speed in 1

mph. Puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on our officers. Makes speeders out of lawful

drivers. Soderstrom: the premise is that if the speed limit is 30 mph the driver can go

40 mph without worrying about getting pulled over. So if dropped to 25mph they would

travel 35 mph. Cuny: most drivers drive at the speed that they are comfortable with in

the specific area. Majority of drivers do drive safely. Gron: this puts the police in a bad

light having to enforce this. Bedard: most of the issue is with enforcement.

Soderstrom: intent is to get this committee's opinion. Lepins: what is the cost of doing

a traffic study on the main streets and thorough fares? And side streets also? Johnson:

cost of study is my time to do traffic studies, put out analyzers, check out streets for

specifics, etc.

Schwarz: this committee needs to zero in on what we want John to study, what we want

to use as perimeters, so that we apply the same standards throughout the Village.

Volume of traffic, time of day, weather conditions, no school zones. Possibly look at

IDOT's standards before we do any speed studies. If you do not have realistic

standards, it is hard to make it stand up in court. Soderstrom: point well taken. Should

we proceed, the Village board needs to follow these standards when approving speed

limits. Naperville did something along the lines that the attorney suggested here, and

maybe we could check with them on how their study was done. Gron: would like to ask

the board what they are looking to accomplish by doing this reduction? We don't have a

rash of fatal injuries out there, etc. Cuny: they have actually been reduced.

Soderstrom: there are enough problems with some individuals on the board and they

feel that by lessening the speed limit we will reduce some of the violations.

DeStephano: I believe the object was to look at a comprehensive Village wide study.

Soderstrom: will probably be looking at total picture such as signage, etc. Lepins: a

street that is under construction should not be included in study. Gron: how would

enforcement be easier if we cannot enforce now? Soderstrom: I think the intention was

to reduce in order to decrease total speeds. DeStephano: intention of board was to do

more of a comprehensive traffic study of the Village. Schwarz: speed limits when they

are posted are absolute. There is no leeway that should be provided by the police.

IDOT gets periodic requests to lower speed limits by local communities. Reduced

speed overall is never accomplished. Signage should not be used as the enforcement.

It creates an imbalance. Bedard: will only create more problems for the PD.

Soderstrom: get copy of Naperville study and report from Dane for next meeting.

Tabled to uncertain date.

It was moved by Pool, seconded by Schwarz, that this matter be tabled. The

motion carried by the following vote:

Gron, Bedard, Pool, Schwarz, Kuehl and Lepins

Johnson: this is a follow up to direction of board to post all of these streets 25 mph.

Reviewed speed counts with committee members of both prior to and after posting.

Even with posting of 25 mph., speeds are still within the 30 mph. speed.

Soderstrom: this was the Village Board response to a request for stop sign posting. It

was a test. I would recommend in the future when there are items such as this, that the

committee members physically drive the area so that they are familiar with the situation

being discussed. Bedard: with regards to this, obviously these people are looking for

some relief and I would be in favor of posting 25 mph. There is going to be increased

traffic in that area when the health care center goes up. They are looking for some help

from us and we are not giving them the stop signs. Let's leave this at 25 mph. Gron:

would like to see study done again in a year to see what the results are. Committee

agreed to review in one year.

Johnson: went over traffic studies with the committee.

Soderstrom: am I reading this correct, that after speed reduction speeds went up?

Cuny: yes. Pool: I do not think the problem here is the speed, it is providing a safe

crossing for kids going to Pleasant Lane School. DeStephano: I do feel this is a time of

day issue, not necessarily a speed issue but looking for safe crossing. Johnson: it was

related to me that the children are making bad judgments about crossing the streets.

Kuehl: what about a crossing guard being put there? Cuny: not within the budget.

Bedard: what about putting in a cross walk? Gron: these are middle school kids, not

kids going to Pleasant Lane. What about changing the bus stop location? Johnson:

traffic volumes and lack of complaints in the past shows this does not present a

problem. Soderstrom: Trustee DeStephano is looking for an alternative, not necessarily

a stop sign. Johnson: possibly a school crossing sign or school advance sign.

DeStephano: could this be tabled until residents can be in attendance at the next

meeting?