Schaumburg officials question plan to close Higgins Road median

Some Schaumburg village board members say the Illinois Department of Transportation is going too far with a plan to close a Higgins Road median in front of an entrance to the town's oldest subdivision as part of a safety improvement project.

At the request of Trustee George Dunham, the board last week postponed approval of the village's $80,241 share of funding the work so that the proposed median closure can be discussed further at the Feb. 23 village board meeting.

The closure would block direct access to the south Lexington Fields Estates entrance between Lexington Drive and westbound Higgins Road. Lexington Drive provides access not only to Lexington Fields Estates but also Lexington Fields South, Barclay Pointe and a few Haverford subdivisions farther north, Dunham said.

With the median closed, westbound Higgins Road traffic would either have to travel all the way down to the entrance on Meacham Road or turn earlier onto Martingale Road to access the neighborhood via the narrower Camellia Lane, he said.

"It's not the end of the world, but more of an inconvenience," said Dunham, who lives several blocks northwest of the intersection. "For me, I just don't see that it's necessary. I believe this is a solution chasing a problem. It's been like this ever since Meacham was a dirt road."

Dunham said he knows some collisions have occurred at the intersection, including at least one fatality well over a decade ago. But if safety is a concern, it could be addressed with signs prohibiting left turns onto or from Lexington Drive during certain hours of the day.

Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said he shares Dunham's concerns and talks with IDOT are ongoing.

In a written statement, IDOT spokeswoman Gianna Urgo said that based on past accident history, the intersection of Higgins Road and Lexington Drive requires stronger safety measures, including the closure of the median. From 2003-13, 40 crashes, including 12 with injuries and one fatality, took place there, she wrote.

"While the number of left turns from Higgins Road to Lexington Drive is relatively low, they have resulted in severe crashes," Urgo wrote. "The proposed change to add a left turn signal from Higgins Road to Mall Drive will increase the queue of vehicles down Higgins Road, past Lexington Drive, creating an unsafe condition for making left turns into the Lexington Fields Estates subdivision."

The closure of the median is just one small aspect of a safety improvement project along Higgins Road from Lexington Drive west to the I-290 frontage roads.

The project also would add a second right-turn lane for northbound Martingale Road at Higgins Road, lengthen existing turn lanes along Higgins, upgrade all the traffic signals and add 375 feet of new sidewalk from Lexington Drive to Mall Drive on the south side of Higgins.

Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funds are expected to pay 90 percent of its cost, with the village and state sharing the remaining 10 percent based on their amounts of roadway jurisdiction.

Larson and Dunham say every other aspect of the project can be done without closing the median at Lexington Drive.

Dunham also argues that the business interests of Patrick Volvo directly north of the median would be negatively affected. Representatives of the dealership did not return calls seeking comment.

Schaumburg Transportation Director Karyn Robles said village staff has recommended implementation of IDOT's entire plan.