Village of Lombard Legistar System

Tross addressed committee about item. Will accept authorship, not content. Content

came from committee. Goal to provide a recommendation to the village board regarding

this issue. Committee has been made aware of this issue for the last 5 months.

Reviewed item with committee members.

Tross: NIFTI to be complimented on keeping the public informed about this issue.

Complimented T & S Committee members on their dedication to this item.

Tross: will address recommendations item by item.

(1) Cassidy: at March meeting, we decided 5 lanes, not 4. Bedard: I thought it was 4.

Tross: no, it was 4. Bergeron: 5 lanes would be with a suicide lane. Tross: all we

would be doing is putting in a lane for someone to turn in to their driveway. Cassidy: I

thought we said 5. We can paint things however we want, 3 lanes, 4 lanes, etc. but if

the pavement is not there, we will be looking at more expense later.

Joan DeStephano: why do we call it a suicide lane? Johnson: cars are going head on

against traffic to make a left hand turn. Cassidy: I want to see 5 lanes, I don't care if we

paint them 4 or whatever. Tross: IDOT needs to approve the painting of the lanes.

Cassidy: I think monetarily we need to go with 5 lanes.

(2) No Comment.

(3) No Comment.

(4) Bedard: do we have any latitude with how this is going to be designed? Tross: the

answer is no, we really do not. We are getting in to areas that will not be funded by

IDOT. Millette: The bridge is already there. IDOT will have to replace it. Tross: I'm not

talking about the bridge, but the pedestrian access.

(5) No Comment.

(6) No Comment.

(7) Gron: who would pay for this? Tross: since this is an Illinois First issue, we are not

sure at this point who will be paying what.

(8) No Comment.

(9) No Comment.

(10) Tross: will refer to staff on this item. Public Works has made these

recommendations, we are just solidifying these.

Tross: the suggestion of 4 lanes, stripe as 3, then eventually stripe as 4 when needed is

not for Lombard.

Tross: after open discussion, we will take the issue of item (1) separately and the

remaining issues as one total item.

Tross: residents living on the side streets off of Rte. 53 do not deserve the high

amounts of traffic that will flow on to these streets without right in/right out. Asked

Trustee DeStephano if she had any comments on this issue.

DeStephano: I just saw this paperwork last Thursday. Am trying to keep the residential

character of Rte. 53 as much as possible. Tross: development will be mainly

residential, not strip malls, etc. DeStephano: in other words, the amount of residential

traffic will be so high that 3 lanes is not acceptable? Tross: correct. Traffic needs to

keep moving, and 3 lanes will not adequately move 25,000 vehicles per day. Tross

introduced Trustee Karen Koenig. Koenig: should these be boulevards? Has

committee looked at this at all? I think that boulevarding is a safety aspect, and keeps

the residential flare. Tross: there are over 125 driveways here, therefore we did not

look at this issue. Cassidy: with the 5 lanes we had talked about, there would not be

any room for this. Tross: also, there is enough parkway area to have trees, sidewalks,

etc. Koenig: that would keep the residential flare. Tross: committee did not want to

see a "Roosevelt Road" here. Soderstrom: I want to go on record that I am against the

5 lane expansion, and really did not even want 4. Would like to see 3, but would go

along with 4. Tross: I was initially going to go with 5, but committee steered me to 4.

Asked Trustee Sebby for comments. Sebby: I have counted about 1000 signs that

people have out there. I would like to see this at 3, but IDOT is looking at this from a

State issue, not a beautification issue.

Chairperson Tross opened this to the Public for discussion.

Mary Kaufman: first of all, thanks for the proposal. I am happy to see the side streets

set up the way the committee proposed. Additions of sidewalks, bike paths, etc. will

keep aesthetic feel of neighborhood. IDOT is looking at 5 lane solution, but they are

also looking at 4 lane solution. One problem they have encountered are the wetlands in

Flowerfield. I heard from the mayor in Itasca that the Illinois First money is being

grabbed quickly. IDOT no longer has all of the funds required for the 2003 Rte. 53

project. People that think Rte. 53 will be 5 lanes no matter what,but they need to rethink

this. I will support Lombard with their 4 lanes.

Theresa Carney: I live in the 500 block of Harrison. Would really like 3 lanes, not 4 or 5.

I drive on Rte. 53 5 out of 7 days per week. Signs say do not pass on shoulder. I see

people drive on them all of the time. How would it affect traffic if old MIT building is

enlarged? Tross: we do not want a large number of employee traffic using our side

streets. Need to exit and enter off of Rte. 53. Carney: What about Harding? You told

me that Harding is county. How can you put Harding in your recommendation? Tross:

we cannot control Harding, but Harrison we can. This is just a recommendation that

would be passed along to the county. Carney: what about Madison? Isn't that county

also? Tross: Yes, but it is a collector. Carney: I feel a lot of this traffic will be directed

to Finley, where kids are trying to cross the street. Finley between 4pm - 6pm from

Roosevelt and Wilson is unbelievable. Tross: committee members do not want this

traffic going down your streets or any other residential streets in Lombard. Carney: this

is why I think we should only have 3 lanes.

Judy Rohlicek: all of my questions have been answered. 4 lanes sounds good. I am

concerned about amounts of traffic. Right in/right out is good.

Lisa Johnson: I have concerns about your recommendations of 4 lanes, striped for 3?

Tross: committee recommendation is to construct a 4 lane highway not a 3. Lisa

Johnson: then I am confused about the last page in recommendation. Tross: that

paragraph is only for NIFTI, not for Lombard. Soderstrom: committee's

recommendation is to construct 4 lanes and to utilize 4 lanes. If the Village Board

overturns this, and recommends 3 lanes to IDOT, then that is what will be

recommended. Gron: if you would like an example of what the 4 lanes will be like, look

at North Ave. between West and Berteau in Elmhurst. Lisa Johnson: then what is the 4

lanes, stripe for 3? Tross: that is only for NIFTI in their area. Lisa Johnson: with the

savings of the 4 lanes vs. 5 lanes, will that mean that Lombard will not have pay as

much money? Tross: hopefully, it would mean they will not charge us for the amenities

we would like to have.

Dominick Ragona: tollway is not working because of the 55 cents toll, and traffic went to

Rte. 53. Toll is being raised to 90 cents, and everyone will be taking Rte. 53. If majority

of people on Rte. 53 do not want 5 lanes or 4 lanes, should be majority rules. Tross: I

agree that dealing with the State and up is difficult and it should be what majority of

residents want. Ragona: I cannot get out of my driveway.

Poll of committee members present on Item (1) Bergeron, Bedard, Gron - Aye Cassidy

- Nay Tross: Will go to the Board with a negative, not enough votes. Please note that I

did speak with Bill Pool & John Schwarz and they are in agreement with 4 lanes.

Poll of committee members present on remaining Items (2 thru 10) Gron, Bergeron,

Bedard, Cassidy - Aye.

Tross asked Bunni Cassidy to write a minority report to accompany this

recommendation to the Board.

Soderstrom: Magnolia is stopping Cherry? Johnson: correct. Yield signs will not work.

Joseph Muff: I live at 901 Cherry Lane. My daughter's car was hit there, and she was

almost killed. Soderstrom: is the problem equally as bad going westbound on Magnolia

as it is going eastbound? Should this be 4-way? Tross: should Cherry stop at

Magnolia? Bergeron: do we need a certain traffic count to warrant a 4 way stop?

Tross: with the vehicular and pedestrian traffic from the park, if it warrants one stop

sign, it should warrant four. Given the proximity of the park, traffic counts, pedestrian

traffic, etc. committee could recommend 4-way as with Southland Park. Cassidy: what

does staff recommend? Tross: staff recommends a 2 way. Johnson: actually, it is a

one way. Reason for this is that traffic flows at normal speeds on one, and the other is

going too fast. Yield sign will not work. Cassidy: is 4 way stop warranted? Millette:

stop signs allow right of way. Johnson: could look at it as a 2 way as there is only one

resident coming off of the other direction. Bedard: stop signs should not be used to

control speed. Bedard made a motion to install 4-way stop signs due to safety issues,

not traffic counts.