The William Street Traffic Calming Study is scheduled to be presented to the Village Board at the October 28th meeting. The public is invited to attend and participate in the meeting.
Residents on the 600 – 700 blocks of South William Street submitted a petition requesting that a traffic calming study be initiated at the end of September 2024. Their concerns included the number and speed of vehicles on the street.
Public Works staff reviewed the petition and then collected traffic counts. The traffic volume and speed data showed the street qualified for the Friendly Neighborhood Streets Program. Staff then sent out the initial public outreach to all residents in the project area to introduce the study and solicit input.
Surveys were sent to 78 residents, and 25 were returned (32%). Engineering Staff used comments received to help develop the preliminary preferred alternative to address traffic issues on the street. Please see the Alternative Analysis Memo in the Documents section to see the preliminary preferred alternative.
Staff presented the preliminary preferred alternative to residents at the March 10th Transportation Safety Commission Meeting, see Transportation Safety Commission Minutes in the Documents section. Staff then installed temporary traffic calming measures to collect traffic counts, determine the trial's effectiveness, and solicit additional comments from the community. The trial showed a 70% reduction in vehicles going over 35 MPH on the street. See the Second Public Outreach Comment Summary in the Documents section for all comments received on the initial design and during the trial.
Staff used the results of the trial and comments received to revise the design; see the Revised Design Memo in the Documents section. Staff sent out the revised design and a ballot to all residents along William Street to voice their opinion on it. The results of balloting and a recommended design were presented to the Transportation Safety Commission at their August meeting, see the William Street August Transportation Safety Commission Minutes. After review, discussion, and public comments, the Commission recommends the following improvements to the Village Board for consideration:
- Parking changes, pavement markings, and marked crosswalks on William Street between Prospect Avenue and Shabonee Trail
- Speed feedback signs on the 600 and 700 blocks of William Street
- Raised median island at the existing crosswalk south of Weller Creek and intersection pavement markings at the intersection of William Street and Berkshire Lane
- “No Parking Here to Corner” signs at the intersection of William Street and Sunset Road
See the William Street Recommended Design for Village Board Consideration document for the recommended improvement plan. These recommendations are scheduled to be presented to the Village Board for final approval or denial at their October 21st meeting. At this meeting, the Village Board will vote to either move forward with constructing the project or deny it and end the study.
The Village Board agenda and agenda packet can be found on the Village website here once available: https://mountprospectil.portal.civicclerk.com/
More information on traffic calming and the Friendly Neighborhood Streets Program can be found here:
https://www.mountprospect.org/departments/public-works/engineering/traffic/traffic-calming
