Mount Prospect weighs easing turn restrictions at Millers Lane

When Mount Prospect's Millers Station subdivision was built in 1993, the original plan was to allow right turns from Millers Lane onto Central Road.

But concerns from neighbors to the west about how it would affect traffic convinced the village board to only allow right turns onto Millers off Central.

Now, more than 20 years later, the original plan could become a reality.

The village board is considering an ordinance that would allow right turns for vehicles leaving the subdivision. The proposal recently received a positive recommendation from the board's Transportation Safety Commission.

Millers Lane is scheduled for resurfacing this year and Traffic Engineer Matt Lawrie said the intersection will be reconfigured to enable better exits from the subdivision. The planned work includes reconfiguring of the curb on the west side, construction of a raised concrete median in the center, and a stop sign for cars headed south on Millers.

The village would continue to prohibit left turns from Millers Lane onto Central, under the proposed ordinance.

Lawrie said that the nearby Cathy Lane and Central Road intersection becomes congested with traffic from the Central Community Center, one block to the east. By changing the configuration of Millers, residents of the subdivision can use Millers Lane and ease that congestion.

A final vote is at least four weeks away, and village officials said they'll use that time to further examine the proposal and possible resident concerns.

Among the concerns raised at a recent village board meeting were those of resident Judith Kirman, who has lived three houses west of Central and Millers for 44 years.

"The only access and egress for any of those people living there - and there are many, many people there, (including) large condominiums, large apartment buildings - their only access is along Central Road," she said.

"Try to put yourself where I am," she added. "You have to back out of your driveway onto Central Road."

Lawrie said a police officer reported that the area around Central Road and Millers Lane does not see many vehicle crashes, something Kirman disputes.

The Transportation Safety Commission also suggested the village ask the Mount Prospect Park District to install signs prohibiting left turns on to Cathy Lane from the community center.

The Illinois Department of Transportation in the past refused permission to install a traffic light at Cathy Lane and Central Road, but the issue will be revisited. Trustee John Matuszak suggested putting in a right-turn lane at Cathy Lane to ease some of the traffic.