Wheaton officials favor stop signs over other traffic calming measures at intersection

A north Wheaton intersection has been a four-way stop since earlier this year, and city leaders say they prefer that traffic calming measure over other potential alternatives proposed by a consultant.

The city added stop signs on Harrison Avenue to make its intersection with Washington Street an all-way stop in February. Before, stop signs were only on Washington.

“I was very concerned that the stop signs would create a problem as far as the flow of traffic and the backup on traffic, and I think that whole thing is working out better than we expected,” Mayor Phil Suess said Monday.

This past summer, the city council tasked an engineering consultant with studying traffic calming efforts.

Then in February, the city alerted drivers to the new stop signs as an interim safety measure, saying the intersection met the criteria for an all-way stop due to an increase in crashes.

There were five recorded crashes at the intersection in 2024, and four reported last year. At least one resident told the council in February that there have been near-misses and accidents where police were not called.

“There’s been some actually very violent accidents at that corner, and people are speeding up and down Harrison Street, and it is an issue,” another, Joseph Lesch, told the council at the time.

The consultant recommended six traffic calming measures: an all-way stop installation, pedestrian crossing bump-outs like those in the downtown, pavement markings in the center of the east and west approaches, LED signage, sight distance enhancements, and a “mini roundabout.” The latter was the most expensive option at an estimated cost of almost $1.5 million.

“It slows down traffic without reducing roadway capacity,” said Farin Azim, the city’s traffic engineer.

City staff recommended proceeding with preliminary engineering work to get a better idea of the cost for a mini roundabout.

“We want to decrease the accidents. Some of it is you want to decrease the speed,” Engineering Director Joseph Tebrugge said of part of the staff’s rationale.

He also cited another benefit.

“Most people don't think of the pennies that are spent every single time you do stop at a stop sign, and the wear and tear to your vehicle and the gas that you spend to get back up to speed,” Tebrugge said.

“But when you start to apply all of those costs over an intersection, over even a year, for all of those 14,000 people who went through that intersection every single year, the costs do add up for the city in total, not necessarily the city as in just in this room.”

Wheaton City Manager Michael Dzugan said a roundabout “might fit” at other locations, but he also raised concerns with the cost.

“I don't think I've ever driven a true roundabout, so that just makes me a little nervous,” Councilman Scott Weller said.

Suess said if there are subsequent issues that arise at the intersection, the city can revisit it.

“But I don't think it meets the threshold of spending $1.5 million,” he said. “I think the idea of the roundabout is something that we need to kind of keep in our radar. And I think there may be applications down the road, but I think where we are today, I think we maintain what we have, and we continue to monitor it.”

Councilwoman Erica Bray-Parker also suggested “putting this in a file folder for now.”