Batavia refrains from left turn ban at Kirk crossing
Batavia officials want to try some less drastic alternatives to try to cut down on left-turn-related rear-end accidents on Kirk Road at Chillem Drive and Giese Road, before recommending that left turns be banned.
If Kane County transportation officials will allow it, the city will install signs on Kirk warning northbound drivers that traffic may be stopped to make those turns. Kirk is a county road.
And Batavia police will increase enforcement of the speed limit on Kirk, in the hope that driving slower will give drivers more time to react. The speed limit on the highway is 45 mph.
From 2009 to 2011, 16 of the 23 accidents at those intersections were rear-end collisions, and police categorized them as “serious incidents.”
The city services committee discussed the matter Tuesday night.
In December, a Batavia resident asked the city council for help getting left-turn lanes installed on Kirk. At a January meeting, neighborhood residents said they favored that and did not want left turns off or onto Kirk prohibited.
But county officials don't believe the number of accidents warrants widening Kirk. They favor prohibiting all left turns by installing plastic bollards on the centerline on Kirk.
Tuesday, several residents and committee members said doing that would force drivers to make their turns at the signal intersections at Pine Street and Wind Energy Pass. They believe the turn lanes at those two intersections would be too short to accommodate the increased volume. If the lanes weren't lengthened, traffic would pile up in the through lane, they said.
Or the left-turn signal times would have to be lengthened. Which would mean lengthier waits for traffic on eastbound Pine to get through the intersection. Traffic already backs up to Woodland Hills Road during the weekday morning rush, according to Alderman Garran Sparks, in whose ward the problem lies.
“I don't know how far we want to take the issue of safety as a reason for eliminating left-hand turns from Chillem and Giese streets,” said Chillem resident Kim Moravec. “ ... The inconvenience of all the residents in that area is going to be a lot more of an impact than the people realize, and I don't know how many people realize that because I don't know how many people realize these discussions are taking place.”
About a half-dozen residents attended Tuesday's meeting, compared to more than 40 who attended a committee meeting in January. Somebody had placed homemade signs up at the intersections, advertising the January meeting.
“It is a terrible inconvenience not to be able to use those roads, not to be able to make a left turn into there,” Sparks said.
Alderman Jim Volk asked if the county has any plans to widen Kirk in that area. Not in the next 10 years, said city engineer Noel Basquin said.
The committee directed Basquin to report back next month with traffic counts for Pine at Kirk, how many cars could fit in the turn lanes, and whether warning signs would be allowed.