Traffic calming measures recently placed throughout Oak Park have raised mixed emotions from the community, but the village wants to hear those feelings to determine which measures might become permanent.
In an effort to meet street safety goals set by the Vision Zero Action Plan and the Oak Park Bike Plan, 81 speed cushions and 17 street diverters have been placed throughout the village. They are meant to help lower traffic through Neighborhood Greenways and increase safety for those traveling without a car.
Trustee Brian Straw said at the Sept. 29 village board meeting that there will be poles at individual intersections to gather traffic counts, speed and turning data.
Residents are encouraged to also provide feedback on the Engage Oak Park website to share what they feel is working, not working or even other areas that may need more attention. The feedback is placed on a map, so users can be specific about location and see what others have said about the same area.
“All of that engagement and data will be going back to the transportation commission over the winter, as all of those averters, I believe, are coming out in November before snow falls, so that the transportation commission can make a recommendation as to which will become permanent and which will not, and whether there are any alterations made to those,” said Straw.
The feedback map has been collecting answers for about four months already and there are over 500 comments with a variety of positive, negative and neutral opinions, but just over 380 are labeled negative.
The intersection of Thomas Street and Ridgeland Avenue has received a concentrated amount of comments sharing frustrations around street congestion making it more unsafe as some drivers go around the diverters, and residents now having to take a longer route to get to their homes.
Other feedback highlights the safety some measures have brought to different areas.
One recent comment said it was “inconvenient” to not be able to turn left onto Division Street from Marion Street but saw “several families on bikes with little kids” cross safely because of the traffic calming measures.
There will be options for in-person community engagement once the data is collected, analyzed and presented in public meetings in the winter and spring according to the answers given by the village on the website.