Traffic Light Pushed In Elmhurst

ELMHURST, IL — Two residents urged the Elmhurst City Council on Tuesday to install a traffic light at York Street and Diversey Avenue, saying the intersection is unsafe. They were responding to a recent consultant's report that recommended against a light.

Former Mayor Pete DiCianni, now a DuPage County Board member, noted several hundred people have signed a petition for a light. He said too many accidents have happened at the intersection, resulting in injuries and one death. Another crash happened Saturday.

He acknowledged the recent report by Sugar Grove-based Engineering Enterprises Inc., which recommended steps other than installing a traffic light.

"We know this is a guide, not the Bible," said DiCianni, who served as mayor from 2009 to 2012. "You are the policymakers."

He even suggested forming a special taxing district with the businesses in the neighborhood, known as a special service area, where the property owners could split the costs of improving the intersection.

"I ask for your leadership. I ask for a traffic control light, the sooner, the better," DiCianni said. "Today, I'm asking you to do your job."

Joe Martucci, a Crown Estates resident, also urged the council to take action. As he was leaving to go to a wedding early Saturday evening, he said he saw the results of the accident at Diversey and York. It was a chaotic scene, he said, but fortunately no one suffered major injuries.

"Crown Estates is part of Elmhurst," he said. "You need to get something done here. If another fatality happens, it will be on your back. It'll be a rotten shame for that to happen."

The City Council did not respond to the residents' request during the meeting.

According to Engineering Enterprises, none of the justifications for a traffic light under the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices apply at York and Diversey. The firm said "unwarranted signals generally cause more safety issues than they fix."

On the west side of the intersection are McDonald's and Shell gas station, while the east side leads to residential neighborhoods. It is just south of York Street and Grand Avenue.

Short of a traffic light, Engineering Enterprises had three recommendations to help with the situation at York and Diversey:

• The city could install signs on Grand Avenue, east of the intersection with York, barring left turns onto side roads that lead to Diversey during rush hours.
• Convert side roads from Grand to Diversey (east of the intersection) into one-way, northbound streets to prevent drivers from seeking to avoid the signal at Grand and York.
• The city could work with local businesses near the intersection to reduce the number of curb cuts at each site, where feasible, in accordance with the recommendations of the North York Street Corridor plan.