'Bollard Hills': Clarendon Hills To Decide On Downtown Changes

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – The Clarendon Hills Village Board plans to decide in a rare Saturday meeting on hiring an engineer to design changes to the downtown triangle.

The Kenneth Sloan Triangle has been the subject of controversy for the better part of a year.

The meeting, called a "strategic planning session," is set for 9 a.m. at the police station, 448 Park Ave.

On the agenda is a proposal to pay Christopher Burke Engineering $57,250 for what officials call improvements to the triangle on Prospect Avenue.

Previously, officials wanted to replace the triangle with a plaza, which critics said would cause traffic problems downtown. The triangle includes a special lane from Prospect to Park Avenue.

Village officials, however, said it would make downtown more inviting and events easier to hold.

Earlier this month, trustees agreed on what they considered a compromise – installing retractable barriers known as bollards and other "hardscape" upgrades such as pavers to make events more doable.

The project is estimated to cost $1.2 million.

On Wednesday, resident Angela Sartori posted comments against the bollards on the Change.org petition page she created months ago to oppose the plaza.

She referred to the village as "Bollard Hills."

"Our CH Village Board just proposed a 'compromise' that will destroy our trees, and dangerously flatten our slip-lane with lines of ugly permanent bollards," Sartori said. "This is not an acceptable 'compromise.' It's STILL a plaza. NO PLAZA over our critical traffic lane will EVER be safe in that location so close to 176 Metra and BNSF trains every day.

In a statement to Patch, she said the village should conduct a comprehensive traffic study before spending $57,000 on engineering and more than $1 million on the project.