Schaumburg favors bike path on west side of Springinsguth Road, further use of roundabouts

Schaumburg village board members Tuesday generally favored having the Springinsguth Road bike path entirely on the west side after a 2029 renovation.

The discussion also included further consideration of the use of roundabouts at appropriate intersections on a case-by-case basis.

One roundabout is proposed for the intersection of Springinsguth and Weathersfield Way, though there wasn’t 100% agreement on several aspects of the 1.5-mile improvement project between Schaumburg and Wise roads.

The board is also considering a plan to reduce Springinsguth from four lanes to two, with a center turn lane and a parallel parking lane.

Mayor Tom Dailly proposed the idea of moving the bike path entirely to the west, but he opposed the reducing lanes, the roundabout and the parking lane.

Trustee Jack Sullivan agreed with Dailly about the roundabout and the reduction of lanes, while other trustees defended those aspects of the 2029 plan.

Trustee Mark Madej said the changes would help reduce speeding in the area. He added that despite the fears about roundabouts that people express, statistics attest to their being safer.

Residents Nancy Schmidt and Jeff Brandon agreed with some of Dailly’s concerns.

“I don’t understand where this plan has come from because none of it makes sense to me,” Schmidt said. “A roundabout, to me, doesn’t belong in a residential area.”

Brandon expressed skepticism of studies finding roundabouts safer, questioning whether the motorists who barely stop for pedestrians at today’s stop signs will yield to them in a roundabout.

Recently appointed Trustee Michael LaRosa said that while he too had initial doubts about roundabouts when he joined the board, what he’s been reading about them is persuading him of their value.

The three roundabouts Schaumburg has built since 2018 largely escaped such scrutiny and criticism because they’re not in residential areas.

Schaumburg Transportation Director Sidney Kenyon said while further study must be done on the effect of moving the bike path entirely to the west side of Springinsguth, there was nothing obviously prohibitive about the idea to report Tuesday.

Resident Renee Feldman said such a move would bring her and her neighbors some relief as they would otherwise be on the only block to have both parallel parking and the bike path on their side of the street.