Algonquin resident wants Eineke Blvd. closed

Patricia Zelko is one tough customer.

For her, it isn't enough that police are stepping up patrols on Eineke Boulevard in Algonquin, where she lives in the Grand Reserve subdivision for people 55 and older.

She also doesn't think much about the police department's plan to hand out fliers warning motorists on her street that they face $75 tickets if caught going beyond the speed limit.

In her opinion, the village needs to seriously consider closing off the street, which she says would reduce the volume and force motorists to leave exactly the way they came in.

She isn't convinced that any of the new efforts, outlined this week during a village board committee of the whole meeting, will do much to reduce the volume of traffic on the boulevard.

"Am I satisfied with what the village is doing? I don't think so," she said. "Things can be done if they wanted to do it."

Zelko has been the most vocal about concerns with increased traffic on the street, which she says have been going on for eight months.

Village officials have repeatedly said shutting down the public road or diverting traffic away from it are not things they're willing to do.

"It's a public street, the village built it and it's going to be used by other traffic," said Sgt. Wade Merritt, head of the police's traffic division. "We want to make sure traffic is obeying the speed limit, so it's not a safety issue. The amount of traffic is right where it should be."

Eineke Boulevard is designed to take between 500 and 1,500 cars daily, he said.

Right now, roughly 1,000 cars a day use it, some to avoid ongoing construction on Harnish Drive and the soon-to-be finished Frontage Road between JC Penney and Wal-Mart.

Some subdivision residents say 1,000 cars a day is too many and not what they expected to face when they moved into the senior housing units.

Merritt has seen a decline in the number of speeders since issuing a total of 45 speeding tickets on Aug. 4, Aug. 8 and Aug. 12.

Since then, police have handed out 12 speeding tickets after 10 hours of direct enforcement on the street, Merritt said.

"The numbers are dropping drastically," he said.

The road is most traveled during the morning and evening rush hours, Merritt said.

Officials predict traffic volumes will decrease when work concludes on Harnish Drive and Frontage Road.