Left-turn upgrades coming to Naper Boulevard and 75th Street
Extra left-turn lanes are coming to 75th Street at Naper Boulevard in Naperville through a traffic safety project led by DuPage County.
The county has received $530,000 in federal money to make the intersection of 75th and Naper - the site of 167 crashes during the past five years - safer for drivers, said Donald Puchalski, chairman of the county board's transportation committee.
Crashes at the intersection predominantly involved vehicles turning or rear-ending each other, Puchalski said, so 75th Street will be re-striped to create two left-turn lanes in both the east and west directions. The traffic signal at the intersection will be updated to give a green arrow as the only time left turns can be made.
"It should reduce the number of total accidents that they've had," Puchalski said. "It's a safety project for us."
The work is part of an effort by the county to make improvements along the 75th Street corridor, a busy road that carries 42,000 vehicles a day. Preliminary engineering for the project should take place this year, with construction expected to occur in 2018 or 2019, Puchalski said. The project's total cost is estimated at $580,000, with DuPage County paying what the federal grant doesn't cover.
Other intersections, including sites in Downers Grove and the corner of Book Road and 75th Street in Naperville, also have seen or will see safety improvements as part of the work.
At Book Road, upgrades include a right-turn lane from southbound Book to westbound 75th, longer left-turn lanes from 75th onto Book in both directions, adjusted signal timings and a realigned pedestrian path through Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve.
Bill Novack, director of the Naperville department of transportation, engineering and development, said the city appreciates the county's efforts to add capacity along 75th Street and make it safer. The road's intersection with Naper Boulevard saw its most accident-prone year in 2015, when there were 43 crashes. Last year the number decreased to 35.
"The biggest improvement we're going to make is trying to improve those left turns from 75th onto Naper," Novack said.