TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Recommend approval of the Westside Neighborhood Traffic Study recommendations
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Michael Prousa, TED Project Manager
BACKGROUND:
In the fall of 2018, the City of Naperville received several resident traffic concerns in the Westside Neighborhood. The City contracted with a consultant, Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Aboona, Inc. (KLOA), to conduct a neighborhood traffic study. A neighborhood traffic study consists of conducting a study of the existing traffic conditions within a neighborhood area and developing recommendations to create a consistent striping, traffic control, signing and traffic calming plan.
DISCUSSION:
The Westside neighborhood is bounded by the BNSF line on the north, Washington Street and downtown Naperville to the east, and the West Branch DuPage River on the south and west; see Attachment 1 for a map of the study area.
Study Process
The Westside Neighborhood Traffic Study included a thorough review of previous spot-specific studies completed by the City staff, a resident survey and summaries of traffic concerns/potential solutions, and school traffic control and walking route plans. City staff sent out a resident survey in March 2019 to gather locations of concern. KLOA used this survey to target data collection and recommendations. City staff and KLOA also met with the District 203 to discuss concerns at Naper Elementary School and Washington Junior High School. The data collection and recommendations were completed in 2019.
Assessments were based on field observations and data collection efforts consisting of traffic volumes and speeds, pedestrian and bicycle volumes, school drop-off/pick-up and bus circulation, traffic controls, pedestrian signage and crosswalk markings, posted speed limits, street classification, parking regulations, and crash history.
Analysis was tied to compliance with Federal and State standards from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Naperville traffic policies and procedures, a Citywide traffic calming toolkit that was developed over the course of the study, and engineered judgement.
Study Recommendations
A public meeting was held virtually on October 29, 2020 to hear resident feedback on the findings and recommendations. In addition, City staff met with District 203 representatives to share the recommendations specific to Naper Elementary School and Washington Junior High School. District 203 sent a letter of support to City staff for the recommended changes surrounding the two schools. See Attachment 2 for the letter.
KLOA has summarized the data collection, observations, analysis findings, public comments, and recommended improvements into a draft report. This report can be found at Attachment 3.
Next Steps
Following the approval of the Westside neighborhood traffic study recommendations by City Council, staff will begin the implementation of short-term recommendations. The medium and long-term recommendations will be incorporated into future Capital Improvement Programs.