Residents Upset Over Preliminary Findings for Hawthorne Avenue Project

Cars travel at similar speeds on wide and narrow roadways in Glen Ellyn. 

This conclusion means that widening the road on Hawthorne Avenue will not encourage traffic to flow faster, according to a traffic study conducted by Lynn Means, Sam Schwartz senior transportation engineer. 

This preliminary finding, unveiled during the village's Tuesday night meeting with Hawthorne Avenue residents to discuss the possible widening of their street, overlooked the residents' number one concern: pedestrian safety.

"What's the impact on pedestrians when you widen the streets?" asked Brian Wright, who lives near Hawthorne and Kenilworth Avenues.

Even though the traffic was monitored during regular school days, residents demanded for statistics that could show them what happens when you bring pedestrians closer to a roadway.

When school lets out residents said there are surges of kids who take up the parkway and sometimes flow into the street. Cutting into that parkway, bringing the road closer to the sidewalk is what worries these residents.   

Although the study does not suggest how widening the street would impact pedestrians, it does show results for traffic speeds. Means tracked speeds along Western Avenue and Main Street to draw correlations between the width of a road and traffic speeds. Western Avenue represented a narrower roadway, while Main Street offered perspective on typical travel speeds for a wider street. 

After conducting traffic recordings during a 72-hour window, from Tuesday to Thursday, during the months of April and May, Means found that no correlation exists between wider roadways and higher travel speeds.

This made no difference to many residents. Some felt using Western Avenue to represent Hawthorne was like comparing apples to oranges, since Hawthorne is a mile stretch with fewer stop signs. But one question kept frustrating many residents: Why change Hawthorne at all?

"Why do this? How does this impact our quality of life?" asked Shawn Lewis, resident near Hawthorne and Western. 

It's all part of the Capital Improvements Commission's Long-Term Roadway Improvements Program. And there are previous guidelines in place that suggest how roadways should be built moving forward, including an acceptable width for roads like Hawthorne.  

"We owe it to investigative and to start with our standards as the starting point. And it's very likely that the CIC (Capital Improvements Commission) and village board will concur with you all," said Carl Henninger, village trustee.

Before the project can break ground, the CIC will formulate a recommendation to pass on to village board trustees who will ultimately vote yes or no. 

If the project were to go get the stamp of approval it could cost the village $4.5 million and would be completed in the fall of 2012. 

A similar process happened along Western Avenue, where the village expressed interest in widening the street but residents were so vocal in their opposition that the project did not go through. However, residents on Riford Street welcomed the widening of their roadway, to help with street parking. 

One thing is clear: Hawthorne Avenue residents want a major part in the final decision. 

"We believe we have a right to have a huge part in this decision," said Jack Fitzpatrick, resident at Hawthorne and Forest.