Hoffman Estates mulls bike lane on Huntington Blvd.

A Hoffman Estates committee is supporting a proposal to reduce the number of marked through lanes on Huntington Boulevard and create a bike lane on the road by the end of 2012.

Huntington Boulevard between Algonquin and Freeman Roads is scheduled to be resurfaced this year as part of the 2012 Street Revitalization project.

The proposed pavement work does not call for the street to be widened, but when the pavement surface is replaced the lane striping can be changed to decrease the number of lanes from two to one in each direction.

The extra space could be used for an on-street bicycle lane in one section and designation of a bicycle route in the other, Hoffman Estates director of transportation Mike Hankey told the transportation and road improvement committee Monday night.

Hankey said a village study found that the volume of traffic on that section on Huntington is equal to or less than other streets in the village that only have one lane in each direction.

He thinks changing the striping would not disrupt the traffic flow.

“The actual lanes would be more traveled than now,” he said, pointing out that both lanes aren't being used equally, anyway.

“Southbound for example, the left lane is used by 75 or 80 percent of the vehicles,” he said.

The village's comprehensive bicycle plan lists Huntington Boulevard as a candidate for on-street bicycle facilities because of its connection to the Paul Douglas Forest Preserve.

Some striping wouldn't change, like the two-way left turn lane on the south end of the area and the right turn lane at Freeman Road.

Besides the bicycle lane and designation of a bicycle route, there will also be newly striped on-street parking lanes, which will increase the buffer between front yards and traffic.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, reducing the lanes in a case like this improves safety for all those users. They say reducing the lanes makes crossing the road safer for pedestrians, as they have fewer lanes to cross; it reduces rear-end and sideswipe crashes; and drivers are more likely to obey the speed limit.

The committee endorsed the idea.

“I'm so glad that we're going to be getting rid of some of those spiderwebs along Huntington Boulevard,” Trustee Raymond Kincaid said.

Hankey said the idea will be further discussed at a meeting for residents in April.