Butterfield Road plan falls short

I am dismayed that the plan to improve Butterfield Road does not address the absence of a signal at the Arrowhead and Butterfield Roads intersection.

First, while there may be, according to IDOT, insufficient traffic volume to require a light, the hazardous nature of driving conditions warrants reconsideration. As anyone attempting to turn left onto Butterfield from Arrowhead Drive, particularly during rush hours or during an Arrowhead Golf Course event, can attest, traffic backs up, causing drivers to lose patience and dangerously turn across oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, there was recently a fatality at this intersection arising from a left turn.

Second, while it is true that Arrowhead subdivision residents have exit alternatives and can travel to the Orchard or Weisbrook road lights, this is, obviously, inconvenient for many. I suspect families and teens will instead attempt the dangerous left turn at Arrowhead Drive. More importantly, patrons of Arrowhead Golf Course wishing to make a left turn onto westbound Butterfield have no such alternative.

Moreover, the aforementioned logic similarly applies to the Stonehedge subdivision, which, despite the existence of alternative exits, has been given Cromwell light at Butterfield Road that, under the plan, will receive improvements, including additional left turn lanes.

Finally, as to traffic flow concerns, I wonder whether any consideration was given to a light that operates on a sensor system, so as to slow traffic only when vehicles are present in the left turn lane. In my view, any light would be better than none.

The danger of making a left turn unassisted by a light will only increase. Now, vehicles will turn left, with no light, over a four-lane highway. It's a shame that, in the course of spending millions of dollars to "improve" Butterfield, no one is willing to alleviate this dangerous condition.

Angela LaFratta

Wheaton