Mount Prospect moving ahead with Central Road study to try and reduce traffic backups

Mount Prospect trustees this week gave the green light for the village to continue studying a plan to reduce traffic backups at the railroad crossing at Central Road and Northwest Highway.

But construction is at least two years away, and resistance from many neighbors and some village trustees could derail the plan.

Village staff, backed by consultants, is floating a plan to extend the eastbound turn lane from Central Road onto Northwest Highway. The revamped left-turn lane would stretch west to Cathy Lane. Improvements to Central Road could include a shared-use path on the south side of the street.

Backups are particularly thorny for drivers turning left from eastbound Central Road onto Northwest Highway.

Cars waiting to turn spill out of the short turn lane and block through traffic.

Consultants from HDR Inc., which is conducting a study for the village, found the left-turn lane needs to be longer.

Central Road carries about 23,000 vehicles a day near the intersection, roughly twice the volume on Northwest Highway, according to consultants.

Consultants also said the area has seen 126 crashes over five years, of which 46% occurred on the west leg of the Central Road-Northwest Highway intersection. Two-thirds were rear-end and sideswipe crashes, they said.

An HDR memo to village staff in September says two waiting vehicles are enough to block the left through lane. When the crossing gates are down, cars can queue more than a quarter mile west.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, which must approve the project, will support it only if Wa Pella Avenue is limited to right turns in and out at Central Road.

IDOT also wants left turns onto Central Road prohibited from the commercial driveway across the street from Wa Pella.

Consultants said 95 vehicles a day turn left from Wa Pella onto Central Road, including nine during the evening rush hour.

The plan ran into criticism from some trustees, who said the trains were at the root of the problem.

Trustees William Grossi and Vince Dante suggested at Tuesday’s village board meeting that making the timing of the gates more hospitable to traffic could ease delays.

“I definitely think something needs to be done in terms of adding a larger left-turn lane to accommodate traffic,” Trustee Colleen Saccotelli said.

The Wa Pella restriction received criticism from some board members and residents.

“You’re going to cause a lot of problems in the neighborhood with that loss of left turn at Wa Pella,” said Trustee Beth DiPrima. She supports a “no build” alternative.

Several residents said it would divert traffic to other neighborhood streets.

“I’m just confused why we’re going to spend millions of dollars and restrict the neighbors in the area when we could just leave the green light longer on Central, right?” South Wa Pella resident John Johnson said.

szalusky@dailyherald.com