Lower Speed Limit May Stay In Elmhurst Neighborhood

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst neighborhood with a lower-than-normal speed limit may get to keep it.

Earlier this year, traffic consultants recommended hiking the speed limit in an area south of St. Charles Road to 25 mph, from 20 mph. The suggestion was based on consistency because the city's residential limit is 25 mph.

But neighbors opposed the idea, saying they see a lot of speeding, cut-through traffic.

The 20 mph limit applies to five streets running south from St. Charles – Washington Street and Argyle, Mitchell, Prospect and Cottage Hill avenues.

A City Council committee appears poised to keep the speed limit in the neighborhood. A memo drafted for the committee's expected approval notes the "resounding" support from neighbors for the current limit.

The committee, the memo says, decided it was in the public's best interest to consider the 20 mph limit as "grandfathered" in.

At a meeting Monday, two members of the public safety committee – aldermen Mike Brennan and Guido Nardini – appeared to favor that idea.

But the third member, Alderman Jacob Hill, said he would likely vote against a traffic safety plan that includes keeping the neighborhood's speed limit.

In an interview Tuesday, Hill said he understood the concerns of residents about cut-through traffic. But he said other areas had similar issues.

"What do I tell people on a street like Glade or Third that see a lot of cut-throughs and don't have sidewalks?" Hill said.

If the city makes a special exception, he said, it should develop criteria so other neighborhoods could also get lower limits.

The committee did not vote on the safety plan because of an issue with the study by the consultants, who are with Rosemont-based KLOA.