Willow Road Study Moves Closer to Design Phase
At Thursday's study meeting, IDOT introduced alternative design solutions that include not touching Willow Road at all.
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The two most vocal villages in the Willow Road debate – Northfield and Glenview – continue to loudly advocate their preferences: Northfield wants the three-lane plan the state approved in 2005, and Glenview wants the 1.2 mile stretch of road in question to be expanded to four or five lanes.
Meanwhile the Illinois Department of Transportation project team assigned to study the road and plan the new design, led by Pete Harmet, has moved along with the process of looking at alternatives beyond adding one or two lanes to the road.
At Thursday’s seventh Community Advisory Group meeting, IDOT introduced 15 potential alternatives for the road design, which include:
- Adding a middle turning lane or median on Willow Road (similar to the plan Northfield has been advocating)
- Adding two lanes to Willow Road with a middle turning lane or median (similar to the plan Glenview has been advocating)
- Adding no lanes to Willow but a roundabout
- Adding a travel lane on Lake Avenue
- Adding a travel lane on Dundee Road
- Adding a full interchange between Interstate 294 and Lake Avenue
- Adding a full interchange between I-294 and Dundee Road
- Adding ramps at various points along Interstate 94
Members on the CAG came up with other potential alternatives such as making improvements to the road without adding lanes or adding an odd number of lanes to make the road “unbalanced.”
“It comes down to evaluating all the options,” Harmet said. “We will compare all alternatives to a no-build option.”
Harmet said all alternatives will be studied and analyzed for flaws, environmental impact, cost and feasibility. At the next CAG meeting in March, members will be given time to comment on each alternative, followed by a public meeting held in April, when IDOT will show the public what alternatives the CAG has devised.
Fearing their input won’t carry over from the March to April meetings, nearly all the CAG members individually requested that IDOT postpone the April public meeting so the CAG has a chance to boil the list down to the most optimal alternatives.
“This is not the steering committee,” Harmet responded. “[The CAG] is just part of the process. We’re sharing information with the public to get their feedback.”
He said he would consider a later date for the public meeting.
Also introduced were potential “tools” that can be implemented on Willow to maximize pedestrian safety, such as high visibility crosswalks, motion-sensor crosswalk signals, count-down crosswalks, turn restrictions, more visible transit stops and under- or overpasses.
Northfield Village Manager Stacy Sigman requested that reducing speed on the road and narrowing the lanes be considered in the final planning design.
Hallie Bodman, representing Northfield on the CAG, requested that a future meeting – when temperatures are not below zero – be held along Willow Road itself, so everyone can put the road design in context of the actual road.
“We are very familiar with the road, but maybe others are less familiar,” she said. “As we discuss further tools, we need to understand what is out there.”
Harmet agreed and said a future meeting will be held along Willow Road.
Terry Roff
10:41 am on Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sounds like its the same old "Stall" actions that Northfield has been wanting for years. The problem for the majority is still not being approached in a timely manor and the minority is always open to explore new designs as long as it wastes time and will never make the changes.
Commuters loose!
George Warga
7:04 am on Thursday, January 27, 2011
Terry Roff is unfamiliar with the fact that the MAJORITY of residents from Northfield and the surrounding communities voted for Northfield's 3 lane plus turn lanes solution. Those citizens who have taken the time to actually review the impact of the traffic studies know that the IDOT approved Willow Road plan that would have been built in 2005 was adequate. Jeff Schoenberg is the one who stopped the road from being improved - NOT Northfield. If Mr. Schoenberg did not hold his own financial and political concerns above the residents of our community, this road would have been completed. Those who are ignorant of the traffic studies should also know that the regional traffic problems are mostly due to inadequate/incomplete interchanges on I-94 and I-294. Turning Willow Road into a highway would not elliminate the regional traffic problems so why endanger children's lives and ruin a community. The difference in travel times for the 4-6 lane plane versus the 3 plus turn lane plan are inconsequential. At most, during a brief time during each rush hour, there may be a difference of less than the time of stopping at one traffic light. Even if you move through Northfield faster during these peak times, it is likely you will have an additional wait time at Waukegan Road or Shermer Road to the west or be backed up trying to get onto the Edens Expressway to the east. Why are there only 2 lanes from Lake Avenue into the Glen if Glenview is so concerned about its accesibility?
nany
9:06 pm on Saturday, February 5, 2011
Expand the road already. This debate is so tired. All the money wasted ... which could have gone to attending to Northfields financial mess. How many of those who complain actually are impacted. Shut up already...times they are a changing. If you don't like it - move.
concerned
5:57 pm on Friday, February 25, 2011
George Warga - You are simply wrong. 1) Patriot Blvd is mostly 4-5 lanes throughout, and is 4 lanes (plus a turn lane) off Lake Street. It is six lanes at Willow Road. And are you really trying to compare traffic volume from Patriot Blvd to Willow Road? If that is the logic you are applying to the discussion, you fail. 2) You stated that the majority of residents in the surrounding communities "voted" for a 3 lane solution. When was the vote? Never. You fail. 3) Travel times? The studies show the continued backup for a mile through Northfield. Travelers see it daily. You are snookering no one. 4) It is a regional strategic arterial state-funded road. Not a Village of Northfield road. Northfield resident's efforts to delay the inevitable is causing dangerous traffic to be diverted to surrounding communities. What about the kids who cross busy Lake Street (busier because of diverted traffic from Willow) in Glenview? Don't matter?
Lizzie Neaylon Kinnich
1:36 pm on Wednesday, March 16, 2011
In response to the comment above “What about the kids who cross busy Lake Street (busier because of diverted traffic from Willow) in Glenview? Don't matter?”
The kids of Glenview do matter very much---that is why those students who reside north of Lake Ave. who attend Lyons are in a bussing district—to ensure their safety. Clearly the Village of Glenview must not think crossing Lake Ave is appropriate for kids or they wouldn’t offer free bussing so kids could avoid crossing Lake Ave twice a day. The kids in Northfield south of Willow Rd. are not in a bussing district…they cross Willow to get to Middlefork and Sunset Ridge schools. Comparing Willow and Lake when it comes to safety and children is not apples to apples because you are talking about bussing vs. non bussing districts. I am not sure how some residents of Glenview think it is appropriate to continue to draw comparisons between the two streets.
Widening the intersection at Wagner/Willow to 5/6 lanes will be a decision made by IDOT which is in direct opposition to the Illinois Safe Routes to School Program which seeks to encourage children to walk/bike to school.
WilmetteCares
2:57 pm on Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Curious about the student crossing issue and the comparison to Lake Ave... Wilmette students cross 4 lanes on Lake Avenue (north and south), walking with a crossing guard at Lake Ave. Thinking major school-crossing intersections at both Locust/Lake and Hunter/Lake.
David Greenberg
7:49 pm on Wednesday, March 16, 2011
I would think that the safety of pedestrians crossing the street could be easily addressed if an overpass (or underground walkway) were installed.
Dan
4:59 pm on Saturday, February 4, 2012
Let me start out by stating that any expansion has to take into account that there are not one, but two elementary schools that are directly on Willow Road, Middlefork and Sunset Ridge. Morning and afternoon crossing by small children is going to be a weekday occurrence from Sept through May. This immediately throws out any plans for a five lanes or even extra wide 4-lane road. Children’s safety takes precedent over commuters.
For an alternative that allows for increased efficiency of traffic while retaining a pedestrian friendly travel experience, the city of Northfield should mimic Ridge Avenue, which runs down the center of Evanston. This is a narrow 4-lane road that has a maximum speed of 30 miles an hour in addition to traffic lights every quarter mile. The combination of a narrow road, 30 mile an hour maximum speed limit and frequency of traffic lights assures that speeds from commuting cars are kept in check. In addition, there are extra wide set backs of 12 feet from the road to the sidewalk which allow school children to walk down ridge, without the feeling of being right next to the road. The relatively narrow lanes (9-feet across) also allow for children and parents alike to cross the 4-lane road in a short time. The road is further made pedestrian friendly with trees planted in the setbacks in conjunction with streetlights.
See Video - http://youtu.be/mbmQVmywfv4
David Greenberg
6:32 pm on Saturday, February 4, 2012
The issue of elementary schools being present in the area isn't difficult to address and shouldn't be an impediment to a necessary widening of the road. Install an overpass or an underpass for the children to use - there's many examples of this around the region. And sure, come up with some sort of barriers along the roadway that encourage people to use the overpass/underpass and provide a setback. Additionally, parents need to either directly monitor their children, and/or teach their children the dangers of ANY roadway, and that they need to use the under/overpass.
Intentionally restricting traffic in the hopes that commuters will take some other route is a poor idea. It's already a major east/west route to the Edens and beyond - the bottleneck is Northfield's portion. The comparison to Ridge Road is like comparing apples to oranges - Ridge is a different style of neighborhood, and roadway altogether.