‘It’ll be safe’: DuPage County to install traffic signal at Great Western Trail crossing

If you’re heading west on a regional trail, your bike ride is interrupted by four lanes of traffic before you can continue pedaling toward Timber Ridge Forest Preserve or south on the path that leads to Kline Creek Farm.

Great Western Trail regulars over the years have urged DuPage County officials to address safety concerns crossing County Farm Road near Carol Stream. The county has given the green light to a long-discussed improvement: a pedestrian-activated traffic signal at the intersection.

“It’ll be safe. I’ll have to keep from dancing as I go across that crosswalk,” said Don Kirchenberg, voluntary chairman of Friends of the Great Western Trails.

The Winfield resident has been pushing for a safer crossing, writing multiple emails to county board members and raising awareness. He also promoted county board member Greg Schwarze’s idea for a stoplight a bit south at County Farm and Timber Creek Drive — by a newer subdivision — in an effort to slow down traffic.

After completing a review, the DuPage Division of Transportation announced plans to put the pedestrian-activated traffic signal at the trail crossing.

“It’s only going to be activated when you have someone that’s ready to cross. So, I think, for traffic-wise, it’s not going to be a nuisance. It’s going to be perfect. It’s going to be absolutely perfect,” said Schwarze, giving kudos to county transportation staff and fellow board member Mary FitzGerald Ozog for supporting it.

The county says it has been evaluating traffic volumes and car speeds, “as well as conducting pedestrian and bicycle counts to determine the appropriate traffic control device and how best to address the mobility needs and safety of all users” at the crossing.

“We have to follow various regulations, etc., to justify it,” said Ozog, chairwoman of the board’s transportation committee. “So I think this is a good solution.”

The Active Transportation Alliance, a Chicago-based non-profit advocacy organization, has also called on the county to install a traffic signal that can be activated by users of the trail, built on the former Chicago Great Western Railway right of way as part of the rail-to-trails movement.

“County Farm Road carries more than 22,000 vehicles per day, with motorists frequently traveling at speeds exceeding the posted speed limit of 40 mph. For people walking or bicycling, crossing four lanes of fast-moving traffic can be intimidating and, oftentimes, dangerous,” Alliance Executive Director Amy Rynell wrote in a letter to the board just this week. “Several crashes near this crossing in recent years have resulted in serious injuries which underscores these safety concerns.”

The county has made improvements to the existing crosswalk, most notably building a pedestrian refuge island.

“However, current conditions still discourage use by families, older adults, and bicyclists who may not feel comfortable crossing such a busy, high-speed roadway,” Rynell wrote.

There will be pedestrian push-buttons and walk/don’t walk indications for trail users, and traditional red-yellow-green displays for drivers. Drivers will only be stopped when trail users push the buttons.

“We believe this new traffic signal will benefit residents, ensuring that people using the trail, and people driving this stretch of road, will have a greater sense of security,” Ozog said in a statement.

The county expects the work to be done by the end of the year.

“We have to get power to the location,” Director of Transportation Stephen Travia explained. “We have to order control equipment and make the necessary changes.

“We will be utilizing our existing electrical maintenance contract to do this work, as there are already overhead traffic signal mast arms that are holding up the warning signs that we put in a couple years ago,” he added.