Grayslake votes to slow Center Street

Drivers will have to start taking it easier when they hit downtown Grayslake's main drag.

Village board members Tuesday night voted 5-0 in favor of reducing the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on Center Street. The section of Center with the lower limit will run from Seymour Avenue to Lake Street, with public safety cited as the reason for the move.

However, that might not be the last Center Street speed limit reduction.

Mayor Timothy Perry said a resident has asked the village board to consider knocking the limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on Center Street from Seymour to Route 83, which is the gateway to the downtown area. Perry said the request will be discussed at a future meeting.

Grayslake police Operations Cmdr. Matt McCutcheon said parking usually has been the biggest problem in the downtown area. He said police didn't ask village board members to cut the Center Street limit from 30 mph to 25 mph.

"We really don't have a lot of speeding problems in the downtown district," McCutcheon said.

McCutcheon said police likely would issue warning tickets to speeders after the change to the reduced limit if they are going a little faster than 25 mph.

Center Street has a collection of service businesses, restaurants and the weekly evening summer farmers market on Wednesdays. Condominiums and retail development also are planed at Center and Whitney streets.

As part of the process to change the 30 mph limit on Center from Seymour to Lake, Grayslake contracted for a traffic engineering speed study. The speed report's results, combined with recommendations from village administration and residents, led to the adoption of the new 25 mph limit.