Buffalo Grove to consider stop sign for intersection on 'dangerous curve'

Resident concerns about what they call a dangerous curve around the White Pine Ditch have prompted Buffalo Grove to look into putting in a stop sign at the intersection of Bernard Drive and White Pine Road.

At this week's village board meeting, Village Manager William Brimm said the village would review the matter and return to the board with a report.

The village's Traffic Management Committee has already recommended against installing a sign. The committee examined the matter after concerns were raised by Trustee Lisa Stone, on behalf of a resident living by the intersection.

At the village board meeting, village staff told trustees that the intersection doesn't meet the criteria known as "warrants," which are set by the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch said the police department conducted a five-year review of the intersection and found no crashes. She said Village Engineer Dick Kuenkler reviewed the request and found it did not meet the warrants. The village examined such factors as line-of-sight and crash data, she said.

The speed limit along Bernard is 25 miles per hour. In the area of the curve, however, it is reduced to 20 miles per hour, and there are signs indicating pedestrians are crossing.

"From a staff perspective, we do believe it is well marked," she said. "We do believe the speed limit is appropriate."

She warned, "If stop signs are overused, they tend not to be adhered to," adding, "If a pedestrian expects the driver to stop, that can create a hazard."

There are no stop signs along Bernard from Raupp Boulevard to Weidner Road.

Stone said she met the concerned resident, who could not attend the meeting, in April. She said other people in the area brought up the same issue. Stone said the distance between stop signs at that section of Bernard is around 10 blocks. She said drivers, particularly when they are teenagers, tend to drive around the curve at excessive speeds, since there is such a long distance between stop signs.

"As he (the resident) described it, it's like the Indy 500," with several near misses. She disputed the village's crash totals, saying she heard there had been accidents. She said she would rather see "proactive" signage, as opposed to "reactive" signage in the wake of a death.

"Out of the two issues that caught my attention (during her recent campaign), this was one of them." Children playing along the residential street are in danger because of the blind spot posed by the curve, she said. A new bike path in the area will only heighten the amount of traffic, she said. "This is absolutely, in my opinion, a high-risk area. If we don't make some move for safety, we're going to be sorry at some point."

"Maybe we need to change our standards a little bit," Stone added.

Neukirch said, though, that the standards are set by the Federal Highway Administration. Other remedial measures, such as the placement of a speed trailer, could act as a traffic calming measure, she said.

Trustee Jeffrey Braiman wanted the village to look into crash data for the intersection over the past 10 years, but favored following the federal standards.

"Once we start violating those standards, we're going to have to do it for everybody," he said.

Trustee Beverly Sussman questioned whether the village had made an exception to the federal standards, noting there were three stop signs in unusually close proximity on Thompson Boulevard. But village staff said two of the intersections were at the junction of two collector streets, while another intersection received stop signs in response to accidents.

Buffalo Grove police Sgt. Scott Kristiansen said there were two crashes last year within one block of the intersection. One car skidded out of control during a snowstorm, while another crash was caused by a driver failing to yield to cross traffic after obeying a stop sign.