Oak Park approved a contract this week for new safety lights at 11 intersections around town to support the village’s cyclist and pedestrian safety goals.
The village will install all of the push button-operated lights, known officially as Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons, over the next few months with work on the project expected to be finished by May 15 according to the proposal. The village board approved the work deal with Lyons Electric Co. valued at $628,252, as the project is set to come in “well within budget,” according to village staff.
The safety crossing lights were among the suggested infrastructure improvements in Oak Park’s recently ratified Bike Plan Update and the village’s Vision Zero traffic plan, which aims to eradicate all traffic deaths in Oak Park by 2035.
“This project will install the majority of RRFBs specifically recommended as part of both the Bike Plan and Vision Zero, except for locations that overlap with 2026 planned resurfacing work or locations that have not been identified in planning documents,” village staff wrote in documents supporting the contract. “The Vision Zero Plan also identified additional locations for pedestrian-activated RRFBs to improve pedestrian safety for crossings of major roadways at the intersections of Fillmore Street with Oak Park Avenue and with Ridgeland Avenue. This project includes the purchase and installation of 40 individual solar-powered RRFBs to protect 11 intersections.”
News that the light installation work is expected to come in within budget comes after the village shared that the first phase of work on the new Bike Plan updates was costing much less than expected.
On Aug. 5, Oak Park’s village board approved spending for the first round of new bicycle infrastructure laid out in the bike plan that the board ratified in July. This round of improvements will cost the village $809,903, more than $500,000 less than the $1.4 million that was budgeted for them in the plan, according to village staff.
Trustee Brian Straw said that the work coming in under budget is a great start to the rollout of the plan, which village leaders hope will drive increased interest in cycling in Oak Park by making the entire village safer for bike riders.
“That’s a savings of approximately $600,000 on this project and it is a great project,” he said. “You’ll be seeing a lot of neighborhood greenways being installed and being installed in the next several months. That is something I am very excited about.”
