Why 'rural road' in southwest Naperville is 'chaos'

"Half a mile of chaos" sits behind Sylvester Pulphus Jr.'s house in Naperville, and even though he's planning to move next year, he wants something done about it.

On the southwest side of Naperville, Pulphus' house in the Tall Grass subdivision south of 95th Street backs up to 248th Avenue. Traffic and noise on 248th have Pulphus and his neighbors asking the city to reduce the speed limit or take other steps so the street will be less desirable to drivers trying to avoid Route 59.

"We have reached a point where it's unacceptable," Pulphus said about the congestion and noise that have built along with nearby housing development during the 15 years he's owned his house. "It's just a perpetual groan of traffic that we experience."

Pulphus has spoken to the city council twice this fall about his concerns, joined recently by fellow Tall Grass resident Wilburn Wilkins.

The problem, the neighbors say, is 248th Avenue has not been widened as promised, despite the development of several subdivisions. The street is two lanes without a median adjacent Pulphus' home at 248th and Grassmere Road, and, nearby, there's even a sign warning "no shoulder."

"It's still the old, rural road from 40 years ago that has probably 100 times the traffic - or more," Pulphus said.

Pulphus said he understands it would be difficult for the city to fast-track expansion of the road during a year when officials already plugged an $8.2 million budget hole.

But in the meantime, he's asking for temporary measures to make conditions safer and more bearable.

"The city has not put in short-term measures to remedy the issues that we are having," he said.

The issues start early with construction vehicles and spike during the morning and evening rush, Pulphus said.

Construction trucks frequent 248th Avenue even though it's not designated as a truck route, he said. Many cars exceed the 45 mph speed limit.

Two traffic signals only a few hundred feet apart along 248th Avenue - one at Wolf's Crossing Road and another slightly farther north at 95th Street - cause vehicles to back up past the Grassmere entrance to the Tall Grass subdivision.

"We cannot get out of our subdivision due to the increased traffic that flows on 248th Avenue," Wilkins said. "That problem needs to be addressed."

Building a short connection that would cut off the intersection of Wolf's Crossing and 248th would help alleviate the backup, Pulphus said.

The connection would bring Wolf's Crossing to meet 95th Street a few hundred feet west of 248th, where it continues on north along the edge of the Carillon Club community for residents 55 and older. It would also remove the need for one of the tightly spaced traffic signals on 248th.

Before making major changes, the city needs to conduct a traffic study in the spring, said Jennifer Louden, deputy director of the transportation, engineering and development department.

She said transportation workers have visited the area to evaluate the possibility of one quick fix: adding a sign to warn drivers not to block the subdivision entrance.

"We've been making observations at Grassmere and 248th to consider installation of a sign," Louden said.

"If we do identify that the signage would be helpful, we can have it installed within a few weeks."

Pulphus said his next step is to meet today with his homeowners association to start a broader conversation so any fixes to ease traffic and noise won't make things worse down the road.

A 65-year-old who is retired from more than 40 years in sales, Pulphus said he's looking forward to moving to a retirement community in Texas.

But he's taking a stand here because he knows neighborhoods - and property values - benefit when residents work to fix their problems.

"I'm trying to resolve this and stop the decline of home values," he said.