Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Advisory Group

MAYOR TRUSTEES George D. Alpogianis John C. Jekot Joe LoVerde VILLAGE MANAGER Danette O’Donovan Matyas Joseph S. La Margo Denise M. McCreery Craig Niedermaier VILLAGE CLERK Dean Strzelecki Marlene J. Victorine MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN PLAN ADVISORY GROUP Remote Participation September 22, 2021 – 3:00 p.m. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Advisory Group meeting was held remotely on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. The meeting was called to order at 3:02 p.m. by Chairman Craig Niedermaier. Members Present: Staff Present: Chairman Craig Niedermaier Nathan Bruemmer, Staff Liaison Peggy Reins Tom Powers, Village Engineer Stephen Sanders Tim O’Brien, Civil Engineer II Ticia Doughty-Ashcroft Andrew Vitale, GIS Coordinator Brian Lee Kathy Thake, Assistant to the Village Manager George Alexopoulos, Police Also Present Cody McChane, Epstein Call to Order Approval of Minutes Group Member Brian Lee, seconded by Group Member Peggy Reins, moved to approve the minutes of the August 25, 2021, meeting; on voice vote all concurred. New Business I. Milwaukee Ave Pedestrian Crossings Village Engineer Tom Powers gave an update on a recent meeting between Village Staff and IDOT discussing possible pedestrian crossings at Jonquil and Milwaukee, Milwaukee at the Oasis Water Park, and Monroe and Milwaukee. The Monroe and Milwaukee intersection would meet the traffic signal warrant if Milwaukee Avenue wasn’t a Strategic Regional Arterial (SRA). IDOT did acknowledge that sometimes they will allow a signal for a regular warrant under “special circumstances.” The end result of the meeting was that the Village would prepare a technical memo for why a 1000 Civic Center Drive Niles, IL 60714 Phone (847) 588-8000 Fax (847) 588-8051 WWW.VNILES.COM  signal was warranted there, which has been submitted. Regarding potential improvements at Jonquil and Oasis, the ball appears to be back in the Village’s court. IDOT probably won’t allow improvements at both locations, so the BPAG Committee should probably decide what we want to focus on. Mr. Powers then walked the group through the Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Improvements memo that had been distributed to the group prior to the meeting. A notable takeaway was that while the number of pedestrian/bicycle crashes were only 2% of total crashes in the corridor, 20% of the most severe crashes resulting in injury involved pedestrians and bicycles. A map in the memo showed a clustering of accidents involving pedestrians between McDonald’s and Oak Mill Mall. There was ensuing discussion about pedestrian behavior in that area. Village Planner Nathan Bruemmer reminded the committee that we’re exploring these potential crossings because of the long distance between signals on Milwaukee, not because there are pedestrian accidents at Oakton and Milwaukee. Chairman Neidermaier raised a concern that adding too many signals on this stretch would be burdensome for motorists. Mr. Powers said the crossing at Jonquil would be a pedestrian hybrid beacon, not a signal always causing motorists to stop. Mulford would be a potential signal location. Group Member Peggy Reins said that as a pedestrian, it’s a serious issue to not have a safe way to cross Milwaukee between the light at Jerry’s and the light at Howard Street. Chairman Niedermaier stated that he wants to be sure if we put a crossing there, that it will actually be used. Mr. Powers explained what the Village would need to do to get funding for these improvements. He suggested doing phase 1 engineering and then getting grant funds. Chairman Niedermaier said that an improvement at Monroe seems like a no-brainer. Group Member Stephen Sanders said that people aren’t only going to the businesses clustered around the Oakton/Milwaukee intersection, but may be going to H-Mart or other businesses at Civic Center Plaza, where without an improvement they have to go way out of their way to get there. Discussion turned to the Oasis crossing, which the group seemed to think made more sense than the Jonquil crossing. Mr. Powers suggested having Epstein do a deeper dive to see if there’s a location that could better meet IDOT’s criteria. II. Waukegan and Cleveland Design Options At the end of last month’s meeting Tom Powers mentioned that IDOT was leaving the door open to a potential road diet on Waukegan. The Village is working with HR Green to revise their scope of services to explore this option. In the meantime, Village Staff have put out cameras to record traffic counts at multiple intersections, to aid in creating traffic models for the road diet evaluation. HR Green will use this data to draft some drawings and eventually the Village will present that info to IDOT. There was discussion on when would be the appropriate time to exert some political pressure to expedite the process. Mr. Powers said we should wait until we present the data to IDOT. Chairman Niedermaier asked if we could expect to hear something by the next meeting. Mr. Powers said it was more likely that we might have an exhibit to present to the group. III.Bike Plan Update  Cody McChane, Epstein, gave a quick update on the bike plan. They have completed 2 out of 3 stakeholder group interviews. The schools group interview was postponed, as they were quite busy due to the beginning of the school year. Epstein has completed their first draft of the existing conditions report and are revising it before providing it to Village Staff for an initial review. They plan to have the document ready for BPAG review by the next meeting. Other Discussion Chairman Niedermaier brought up a letter that was sent out to Niles West families seeking public support for a proposed Oakton street pedestrian path. Group Member Sanders said he knows the Village of Morton Grove is looking for letters of support for the grant application. Chairman Niedermaier asked if Morton Grove has an equivalent Bike/Ped committee, and if so, it could be useful to have our two groups talk when there is overlap on projects. Group Member Doughty- Ashcroft had some questions about a sidewalk that had previously been mentioned running behind the residential area north of Oakton on the Village’s eastern boundary near the water reclamation plant. Tom Powers reminded the group that Engineering had presented a sketch for that sidewalk, and it’s something they’re planning to do in conjunction with the improvements at Caldwell and Oakton. It’s on Engineering’s radar, but might be more cost effective to do that project on its own, outside of the Caldwell/Oakton project. The joint project with Skokie and Morton Grove has a connection from the Loverde center to Oakton. Chairman Niedermaier asked if those drawings can be shared by next meeting. Comments from the Public None. Next Meeting October 26, 2021. Adjournment Motion to adjourn was made by Group Member Lee, seconded by Group Member Reins; all concurred and the meeting adjourned at 4:08 PM. Nathan Bruemmer Staff Liaison