Constant Elmhurst Traffic Snarls May Be Addressed

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst officials are pushing to do something about the “excessive” delays that plague an intersection near Route 83.

Controlled by stop signs, the five legs of the intersection involve Riverside Drive, Monroe Street and Frontage Road. It is just next to the Route 83 corridor. Across the way in Villa Park is Walmart.

“Because of the proximity of this intersection to Route 83, and the fact that this intersection is one of the only ways into and out of many businesses along the Route 83 corridor in both Villa Park and Elmhurst, this particular area receives a high amount of traffic,” a city memo said this week.

Because of the minimal right-of-way, the intersection’s multiple legs are “extremely” close to the Route 83 intersection, which has traffic signals, the memo said. As a result, multiple directions of cars try to merge into a single lane during an “extremely short” west-east Route 83 light cycle, according to the memo.

The city may now have an opportunity to solve the problem. Recently, on the southeast side of the intersection, the former site of the Kleft Brothers was sold and is set to be redeveloped with a large commercial building, the city said.

As part of the zoning process, the city suggested that it use part of the property to improve the traffic situation, which could also help the development’s traffic flow. The developer agreed to allow land to be used for that purpose, the city said.

On Monday, the City Council’s Public Works Committee plans to consider an agreement with TranSystems to investigate the intersection’s traffic flow, costing up to $55,000. This would help the city understand whether a realigned intersection could improve the traffic situation, the memo said.