W. Dundee restricts parking on Oregon St.
The West Dundee village board voted to restrict parking along Oregon Street east of Route 31 because of safety concerns and resident complaints.
The village will paint a yellow stripe 60 feet from the intersection on the north side of the street and a 30-foot line on the south side of the street, Village Trustee Tom Price said.
Police Chief David Sawyer told the board Monday night cars parked along both the north and south sides of the street hinder traffic entering the street from Route 31. Sawyer said cars trying to bypass Route 31 and Route 72 have no room to move off to the side to make way for traffic coming west along Oregon Street.
"There have been many near-collisions," Sawyer said. "Especially when we have vehicles parked on both sides of the street and there's traffic from both directions trying to get through."
At the same time, residents on the 700 block of Oregon say vehicles, which residents say belong primarily to employees of a nearby AT&T store, block their driveways and create blind spots for residents attempting to reverse out of their parking spaces.
"There are four to 10 cars on the street every day of the week," said John Baird, who presented the village board photographs of cars parked outside of his home. "On either side of my driveway, I am blocked in."
Baird said the manager of the store requires employees to park on the street rather than take up space in the ample parking lot.
While the police chief suggested painting the curb yellow, residents said the yellow stripe would shift the problem, not solve it.
"We will have the same issue in the middle of the street," said Patricia Nielsen, who also suggested the high volume of parked vehicles would decrease home values on the block.
Village President Larry Keller said the village board would direct staff to research a solution.
"We need to solve the problem," Keller said. "Not just give it to someone else."
Parking: Residents say nearby store employees park on the street instead of parking lot