Long Grove officials hope to speed up traffic solutions

Long Grove officials are continuing to hash out the details of a neighborhood traffic management program.

The board members are looking to come up with a plan if residents of a neighborhood ever turn to them with traffic problems, seeking a village solution.

The majority of the discussion Tuesday hinged on the percentage of area residents who have to agree to wanting traffic calming devices in their neighborhood.

The village's plan calls for residents to approach the village with a petition signed by residents representing at least 30 percent of the properties in a study area.

The village would then assess the traffic problems in that area and the evaluation would go back to the residents for a vote on whether to continue the project.

Under the plan, residents representing 67 percent of the area would have to agree to support the project.

Trustee Stephanie Hannon argued that this places the burden on the people who want the project instead of the people who are against it, which is how she wanted to see the proposal re-written.

"If you make it this way, there will be no traffic calming," she said.

Trustee Ted Lazakis agreed, saying that residents may all agree that there is a problem, but are less likely to agree on one solution.

"You would have a hard time getting 67 percent of people saying fresh air is good," Lazakis said.

Village attorney Vic Filippini suggested making the wording more vague -- such as "a clear majority" -- to give the village more control over the fate of the project. The village will discuss the new wording on the proposal at the next board meeting.